Shinku Akuma no Iwa
by ShadowStar91
Summary: Sarutobi knew Konoha would never treat Naruto right so he sent the newborn out of the village for his own safety. But an acident causes him to end up in Iwa's hands. Now being raised by their greatest enemy, how will the world handle the Crimson Devil of Iwa? NaruOC
1. Arc 1 Chapter 1

Many would say I need to learn how to focus on one story and stick with it, or maybe just two. But I can't help it. A stray thought or idea pops in my head and my creative mind starts running with it. This is my newest one, and it's somewhat simple. What if Naruto was raised by Iwa? I have a story with a similar idea on my favorites but it hasn't been updated in forever and then as I was thinking of a few things, poof; suddenly I have a good third of this story in my head in the span of an hour. So here I go, starting another story when I still have others that need updates and chapters. I'll get back to them. As soon as this one stops bugging me to get typed.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc One: Childhood<span>

**Chapter One –** Iwa's Newest Weapon

It was done, the Kyuubi was sealed into a newborn child. But not just any child. The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had sealed the greatest of the bijuu into his own son. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, had retaken office instantly to make sure Konoha stayed strong and united. The problem is that they were united, just for the wrong reason. The newborn child was named Naruto, as agreed by his parents, however to try and hide him from his fathers enemies he was given his mothers surname, Uzumaki. The problem was this also hid it from the village, and if they knew then perhaps they would be united for a different cause.

Hiruzen wasn't sure how but word had spread almost instantly that the Yondaime didn't kill the demon but rather sealed it into a newborn child. He suspected Danzo in some ploy to gain Naruto for himself to be a weapon but that would not happen. He promised Minato in his final moments he would protect his child. But that meant keeping Naruto in the village as an orphan or giving into what the village was united for; kill the child. Killing him was out of the question, that wouldn't be protecting anybody but rather it would release the demon back into the world. He could try explaining that but save for a select few the village was ignorant in the ways of fuuinjutsu so they would think he was simply making up an excuse to save the boy. And even if they didn't kill him, Naruto would be forced to live a life of hatred and pain. The elder man couldn't force that onto him, hell he wouldn't force that onto the most evil man in the world unless he had to. He was far too kind like that. So what did that leave for the boy?

He could adopt him into his family or maybe another shinobi family that understood that the boy was not the fox could. But that would draw the hatred of the people to whoever was keeping him. As Hokage he needed the people to obey him so it wouldn't do to have them hate him. And the clans needed to stay loyal to the village, which would be extremely hard if they were hated for trying to raise a young boy.

He could give him to Danzo to be trained as a weapon. But that would never happen. He knew Danzo's training and refused to make the boy and emotionless tool. Especially one that would be loyal to the old war hawk and not to Konoha itself. So that was out of the question.

Killing him would release the Kyuubi and start the destruction and death all over again, rendering Minato's final sacrifice null and void. So no killing a baby tonight, despite the cries for his blood.

As Sarutobi though only one option seemed to work. He would have to send the boy away until he deemed him ready for the responsibility placed on him. Or until the villagers stopped hating him and that was likely never going to happen. Sarutobi knew of a family that owed him a favor and was thinking of adopting a child on a village near Hi no Kuni's border so he figured sending Naruto there would be the best option. Hiruzen sighed as he got out a blank scroll and began writing out the message to explain the boy's plight. He only hoped they wouldn't be as ignorant as the villagers being kept alive simply because the boy they wanted dead was alive and sleeping peacefully.

"Rin." Sarutobi called as he finished the note. Soon enough a jonin entered his office from waiting just outside as he had asked. She bowed as he sealed up the scroll and handed it to her. "This is an S-ranked mission for you of the utmost importance." Her eyes widened as she was not expecting such a dangerous mission immediately after the attack. "I need you to take this to a family by the name of Ichika in the village of Torusei on the border of Hi no Kuni. Not only are you taking this scroll, you will be taking baby Naruto to them as well." He said as he handed her the scroll and motioned to the sleeping child in the crib by the desk. Rin knew full well who he was, her sensei had been overjoyed that he was going to be a father and had shared it with a select few, his old team being part of that small group. She also understood that Naruto was Naruto, not Kyuubi. "Protect him with your life and if you wish you may stay with the family for a few days after delivering Naruto to them. I also need to let you know, you must sneak out of the village. Some will want to kill the child and will likely be waiting to see if I send him away and will likely try to kill him as soon as they see him."

"Not to worry Hokage-sama. I won't let a single hair on his head be harmed." Rin responded right away as she pocketed the scroll. She then walked over and after admiring the sleeping child for a moment she picked him up and wrapped him in some blankets to keep him warm before turning to the Hokage. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"You must not tell a soul what is going on. Not even Kakashi." Rin winced slightly, Kakashi was her boyfriend and they were getting somewhat serious. She honestly expected him to propose soon. But that would have to wait. She was going to protect her sensei's son and make sure he wasn't harmed. "Now go, I can cover for your absence for a short while but then they will ask questions and I will have to say that I sent Naruto away. I will never say where, and when you return I'll be forced to have a Yamanaka wipe the memory of the mission from your mind. I'm sorry Rin." She looked down sadly before steeling her features and nodding. With one last look at the child in her arms she then left via a shunshin and headed off to do her mission.

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><p>Her breath was ragged and she had blood running down her face. This was both expected and completely surprising. Not even ten minutes after leaving Rin was being chased. By ANBU no less. However they all wore black and had blank masks meaning they weren't regular ANBU but ROOT, Danzo's personal force. They were chasing her to get Naruto, not to kill him but to deliver him to their master. But Rin would have none of that. She had already killed one. Three were left but they weren't making it easy for her. Jonin she was but she had the skill of an ANBU. She was just hoping to one day be a Jonin-sensei so she never bothered trying to join their ranks. A ROOT ninja dropped down in front of her and tried to stab her with his tanto but she ducked under the attack and struck him in the chest with a glowing right hand. Chakra scalpels, a medic ninja's best combat jutsu. The result was instant, the arteries around his heart were severed and he dropped to the ground dead. Two down, two to go. Rin wouldn't let anything harm Naruto, this she swore.<p>

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><p>"Man this mission was so boring. Deidara did everything." A man said. He had on a simple Iwa jonin uniform and grey hair that laid messily upon his head. Behind him were two others wearing the same uniform, one with spiked green hair and the other being bald.<p>

"Oh shut up, un. The explosion was such an expression of my art. You should be proud to have seen it without being the target un." A man wearing the same uniform said. He had gray eyes and long blond hair done up in a ponytail, save for a large bang that covered one side of his face.

"Both of you quiet." The green haired one spoke quickly. He looked around as they all came to a stop. "I smell blood. Let's check it out." He ordered as they all leapt towards the source he smelled. About twenty meters from where they were was the scene of quite a battle. There was scorch marks from Katon jutsu, a few upturned slabs of the ground that were likely caused by a Doton jutsu, and shurikan and kunai littered the area. But most surprised was the mark each body carried, the mark of the leaf. Konoha ninja. And apparently they were fighting each other to the death. The Iwa ninja smirked seeing their greatest and most hated enemy dead from battling amongst themselves before they noticed something. Two of the three bodies were wearing similar uniforms and the third was huddled next to something. While the bald man and gray haired one began raiding the two others for their supplies and maybe something else of interest, Deidara and the squad leader went over to the woman to see what was up with her. What they found was shocking to say the least.

She was curled around a small baby boy whose blankets were soaking up the blood coming from a large wound to her chest. Despite being soaked in blood the baby was still sleeping peacefully, not a single scratch on him. Deidara moved the woman away from the kid as the other man picked up and examined the child. Deidara searched the woman for anything while the child seemed to wake up. And it did the first thing any baby does when woken from its nap; it started crying. Loudly. The two that searched the dead ROOT ninja started clutching their ears as they spun around to see the child their leader was holding. "Will you shut that brat up? God he could wake the fucking dead!"

"And look at his eyes and that hair! He's probably related to the bastard Yondaime! I say we kill him and head home." The other shouted.

"Hold on. I think we should take him home with us un." Deidara said as he read a scroll he found on the woman. The others looked at him in shock as he stood up and pocketed the parchment with a smirk. "I have a feeling old Oonuki is gonna want to see this kid." He said as he looked at the child.

"And why's that? I'm starting to agree with them about taking the brat out." The leader said as he stared at the baby in his hands.

"If Tsuchikage-sama decides to kill the boy then I'll give all three of you my mission payment for this mission and I won't turn anything into my art for a week." Deidara said as he took the child from their boss. The other three stared at him. The mission may have been easy but it was A-ranked, meaning that was a lot of money even after splitting it three ways. Plus Deidara always annoyed everyone back in Iwa by blowing up anything that annoyed him too much. If he was willing to risk so much over some brat that looked like he could be the flash's kid then they new he was serious. "Now let's get back to Iwa un. The sooner Oonuki sees this kid the better." They all leapt away from the scene of the fight, intent on not only delivering their news of a mission completed but to see what was so important about the kid that Deidara was sticking up for him.

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><p>Iwagakure, one of the five greats and the only one that could equal Konoha. Or at least they used to be able to. After the third war when Namikaze Minato almost single-handedly beat the shit out of them with his <em>Hirashin no Jutsu<em>, they could barely claim themselves a great village anymore. But they had been building their strength back up and now they were just waiting for something to weaken Konoha so that they could take their vengeance and declare their superiority over the weak hearted tree huggers. The four, plus a small child, all let out a small sigh of happiness at being home again. They hurried to the Tsuchikage's office as fast as they could because they wanted to get paid. And the brat had been screaming on and off for the past day. They weren't sure if their ears could take much more. Perhaps that could be a new torture for the interrogation department? Being forced to listen to crying babies without being able to do anything to shut them up or claw your own ears off. Even though it was unintentional, the four were getting close to killing themselves since Deidara refused to let the boy get killed. Despite wanting to stuff clay down his throat and blowing up the brat himself towards the end of the trip.

The four were let into the Tsuchikage's office to give their report instantly, seeing as it was a mission the old kage wanted done right away. As they enter they noticed the old kage was flanked by his two favorite jonin, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi. Kurotsuchi was a young woman with black hair and violet pupil less eyes whose beauty had captured the hearts of many in Iwa. Akatsuchi on the other hand was a tall broad giant of a man that kept his hair under his bandanna and was easily noticeable due to his large figure. However sitting in the chair between them was a surprisingly short figure even compared to a normal person. He was the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ryotenbin no Oonuki. "Ah, how was your mission? I trust it was a success?"

"Fireworks sure make for some good art un." Deidara replied with a smirk before the squad leader went over the details of the mission in greater detail. They found their target and then led him off during the festival so that Deidara could launch him into the air and blow him up with the regular fireworks. Nobody even noticed that one particular explosion was red from blood and not the fireworks. Oonuki smiled as the mission was a success. Now the company would be weaker and they wouldn't be able to get more guards so that would make their eventual destruction all the easier.

"Good, now is there anything else?" He said, wondering why Deidara was towards the back of the group and seemingly carrying something. The squad leader explained that one the way back they found a scene of battle where apparently three Konoha ninja had killed each other. However it was why they seemed to be killing each other that caused Deidara to be acting like he was. "Deidara, what's in your arms and why shouldn't I just kill you or it now?" Deidara then walked up and placed the child on the desk in front of the Tsuchikage.

"This kid is what they seemed to be fighting for. And this scroll tells why un." He said before pulling out the scroll and handing it to the kage. Meanwhile though Kurotsuchi was looking at the baby, barely containing herself from picking it up and playing with it. A dangerous Kunoichi of Iwa, but surprisingly a sucker for babies. It was taking all herself control to just stare at it and keep the smile off her face as her grandfather read the scroll Deidara handed him. Suddenly everybody was shocked as the Tsuchikage started laughing.

"Deidara, you're getting a bonus for this!" He declared, shocking everyone even further. "Konoha has truly fucked up this time!"

"What does the scroll say sir?" Akatsuchi asked. The Tsuchikage motioned to the boy sleeping on his desk.

"This brat is the son of Uzumaki Kushina and her secret husband Namikaze Minato." That got everyone outside of Deidara, who already knew, and the Tsuchikage, who was telling them, to growl at the kid and a couple to reach for a kunai. "Don't even think about killing the boy!" He ordered as he noticed a couple hands.

"Why not? He's the son of that bastard Yondaime! He should be killed right now just to stick it to that fucking bastard!" One shouted.

"Because Namikaze is already dead. And this boy is valuable, unlike you." He growled getting everyone to double take at him, again except Deidara since he knew. Seeing as he had their attention he continued where he stopped. "The Yondaime Hokage died because apparently Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi. He died sealing the fox away… into his own son." He said as he looked down at the child. The boy was a jinchuriki? That got their attention and made them understand why the boy was valuable. A new weapon for Iwa was always welcome. "His mother died in childbirth or something and the flash died putting the demon in this boy. And for some reason, Konoha was sending him away rather than training him to be a weapon. Well thanks to your four stumbling upon him and Deidara from keeping him alive, Iwa now has a third jinchuriki. And not just any jinchuriki, but the strongest of them all once trained." They all began to nod as they understood their kage's reasoning.

"So what's going to happen to the boy?" Kurotsuchi asked as she started to look at the baby again. The Tsuchikage looked at her and could see she seemed to like the child for some reason. He also looked at the rest and noticed outside of Deidara they still looked like they wanted to kill him.

"I'm going to place the boy, Namikaze Naruto, under your care Kurotsuchi. You'll raise him up and train him to be a ninja. He'll then be used against Konoha when we finally strike. I can see it now; Konoha destroyed by their own jinchuriki that they foolishly threw away! How's that for revenge against the leaf and Namikaze? His own son will destroy the village he died to save!" As the Tsuchikage declared this they all broke out laughing, save for Kurotsuchi who instead picked up the baby and looked at him.

"Naruto huh? Oh have we all got big plans for you."

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><p>And that's chapter one. I hope you enjoy and feel free to ask any questions you like.<p> 


	2. Arc 1 Chapter 2

Okay, Kurotsuchi's age has not been said anywhere I can look. So show me an official source where it says here age and I'll gladly change it. I'll even wait for it. *Pops in American Tragedy*

…waiting…

…and still waiting…

Nothing huh? Look, when she appears in canon, she looks to be in her twenties, maybe early thirties if she takes care of her appearance. And don't try and say that's not possible cause Terumi Mei looks like she's in her late twenties at best but she's confirmed to be in her thirties. So that's how I'm going to do it here. As of the current time, she's in her late teens. By the time of the canon genin exams she'll be late twenties. And that's how it's going to be until someone can point out her real age, cause every site I check does not have one listed and appearances can be deceiving.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc One: Childhood<span>

**Chapter Two –** The Early Years

"Start carrying this stuff Deidara." Kurotsuchi ordered the blonde as she pointed to a large pile of various items. She then walked out the store not even bothering to see if he would obey.

"Why do I have to do this un?" The bomber complained as he picked up the bundles. With his ninja training it was quite easy to carry all the weight. But that didn't stop him from making a fuss about it. "Why does a baby need all this shit anyways un? Just give it some food and leave it be. This is all just a waste of time un."

"You have no idea what to do with babies do you blondie?" She shot back as he caught up with her. She was currently carrying the young Naruto in her arms as they were walking back to the Tsuchikage mansion, her home. The meeting with their kage had finished and Kurotsuchi instantly dragged Deidara off to get supplies for Naruto. When he tried to complain old Oonuki just ordered him to do it. And an Iwa ninja always follows their orders. "Babies need more than just food and a bed. They need diapers, special food cause they can't eat stuff like us, blankets, clothes, a crib, and maybe a few toys and such. Babies are very high maintenance but I guess a blonde fool like you wouldn't know that." She explained before taunting him with a smirk. Oh how Deidara wanted to blow her up. But she was not only the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, she was appointed guardian of the boy she was carrying, and that boy was gonna grow up to be pretty damn important. Blowing them up would be the equivalent of going up to Oonuki and asking him to chop his head off. If anything the latter would be more merciful.

"Fine, the baby needs this shit. But why do I have to carry it all un? I just got back from a mission and I'm tired! I haven't even gotten that bonus Oonuki-sama promised me yet." Deidara complained. Kurotsuchi actually paused mid-step as she thought before shrugging her shoulders and walking along.

"I don't know, I just grabbed who was closest to me." That got the blonde bomber to freeze as his jaw dropped. Just because he was closest to her when she grabbed the brat? Fuck his luck! Deidara started following with his head held low as he cursed any god that would listen to his plight.

"Alright now set up the crib over there while I feed him. And then you can go, I'll take care of the rest." Kurotsuchi said as they walked into the mansion. Deidara just nodded numbly and walked towards the area she pointed out to obey. Kurotsuchi on the other hand grabbed the bag with baby food and walked off to the kitchen. She set Naruto down on the table and pulled out a small bottle of formula. As much as she liked babies, she never actually had to keep one. Babysitting missions were her favorite D-ranks back when she was a kid and now she got a permanent one, technically. "Okay a bottle of this and he should be good." She muttered to herself as she made the bottle for the child sleeping behind her. Or at least formerly sleeping. Naruto seemed to wake shortly after being set down, likely from suddenly being on an uncomfortable table rather then being held by someone, and started screaming his displeasure at his new spot.

The resulting scream was enough to make Kurotsuchi drop the bottle and if not for her ninja training kicking in to catch it, it would have shattered on the floor. She quickly set the bottle down before turning around and picking Naruto up and holding him close. "Calm down little guy, it's okay. It's okay." She muttered softly. When Naruto still kept crying she sighed and reached for the bottle she had just finished preparing a moment ago. Carefully bringing it to Naruto's mouth for the child to get its formula she smiled when he quieted down and started to suck out the drink. "There you go, you were just hungry weren't you." She was smiling softly at the child in her arms before heading out to the living room to see if Deidara had finished the crib.

"God damn this fucking thing!" He shouted. Kurotsuchi started laughing seeing the blonde holding up the instructions with all the pieces lying around him as he tried to figure out what went where. At the sound of her laughter he turned around and glared at her. "Why don't you do this un! After all this is for that damn thing in your arms!" He shouted. She just kept laughing as she sat down on the couch.

"No thanks. Now Tsuchikage-sama ordered you to help so get back to work." His eye twitched and one hand subconsciously reached for his clay as she kept laughing. This was going to be a _LONG_ night.

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><p>"Nothing Hokage-sama. I found two dead ROOT ANBU of Danzo's on the way and then further along I found another two and Rin, all dead and their supplies raided." Kakashi reported to the Hokage. After sending Rin out with Naruto, the council was called to decide what to do with the boy. Most called for his death, mainly the civilians. Danzo wanted him to be trained as Konoha's weapon. And only the Inuzuka and Yamanaka clans were willing to adopt the boy into their care. But then Sarutobi said none of that was possible because he had sent the boy away to an undisclosed location with one of his top jonin. Danzo stormed out of the chambers, likely to send the very ninja Kakashi found after her. The civilians were in an uproar, calling for the Hokage to step down seeing as his senile old head had not killed the demon. And the shinobi side, while slightly annoyed that they weren't even given a choice in the matter, nodded their acceptance as they knew the boy would not have a normal life in Konoha no matter what. After the meeting, the Hokage sent Kakashi out to make sure Rin and Naruto were safe.<p>

"What of Naruto, and the scroll explaining who and what he is?" Sarutobi asked, concern all over his face. If the boy was dead he'd never forgive himself. Kakashi shook his head.

"All supplies from Rin were taken, just like the two others. And the boy was nowhere to be found. My ninken could smell others in the area but they had left a while ago and the scents were faint. Not only that but one smelled of explosives apparently so we weren't going to risk it. I'm sorry Hokage-sama." Kakashi concluded. Sarutobi sighed.

"No Kakashi, I am. I never should've sent Rin on her own, knowing the danger Danzo posed. And I'm sorry my foolishness cost you the love of your life. I hope you can forgive me." He said as he puffed some of the tobacco in his pipe while Kakashi numbly nodded. "My only wish is to know what happened to Naruto. Who has him? Are they taking care of him? Is he even alive? I've failed Minato and can do nothing about it. Oh how he would be ashamed of me." He lamented as his thoughts were of how he thought Naruto was suffering. If he really knew what was going on with the child, he'd likely be cursing himself out for a different reason.

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><p>Two years passed and already Kurotsuchi was beginning to regret her long-term babysitting mission. Her father, Kitsuchi, was regretting it ever since he came home a week after the event and he hadn't even tried to bother with the boy. Even the Tsuchikage was beginning to regret it and he fucking ordered it! And Deidara wasn't helping by offering to make some 'baby art' every time he saw the child. Naruto was apparently a very problematic child.<p>

First off, he barely let anybody in the Tsuchikage mansion get more than two hours sleep at a time. Now as ninja, that wouldn't be a problem. In short day, maybe week long durations. This lasted at least a year before the baby could finally go a whole night without waking. Then there were the diapers. He went through those like they were going out of style. Four or five diaper changes, in the course of a few hours. Kurotsuchi could not remember any baby ever running through those so fast from her younger days. And then there was when he learned to crawl. Now they had to lock him up or tie him down anytime they set him down otherwise he'd crawl to who knows where. One time Kurotsuchi had set him down and the baby boy had crawled to the door where if not for Akatsuchi announcing he was about to come in, Naruto would've been stepped on by the giant of a man.

But despite the trouble, Kurotsuchi enjoyed taking care of the boy. And the Tsuchikage hadn't seen his granddaughter so happy in years. Despite wanting to blow him up, even Deidara would admit the 'blonde terror' as he called him, had grown on him slightly. And Akatsuchi was always willing to watch the boy if Kurotsuchi had to go on a mission because he thought that the boy would be a great friend and ninja when he grew up. It also helped that he felt since the boy was under the Tsuchikage's protection, it was an honor to guard him.

That was another thing; Naruto wasn't received that well at first to the village of Iwa. A week after Deidara brought him back to the village, the Tsuchikage had made the announcement. Iwa was now in possession of the son of the flash. Instantly there were cries for the boy's public execution. But Oonuki shot those down by claiming that the boy was also jinchuriki to the Kyuubi. Most quieted down, seeing the use in another 'demon weapon' for Iwa. And to further silence the rest, he said Naruto was going to be raised specifically to take out Konoha one day.

Now while a few of the older ninja hated the boy for his father, nobody dared to attack him. At least not after the first and _only_ attempt. A man had snuck into the Tsuchikage mansion in the middle of the night and tried to stab a kunai through Naruto's head as he slept. But right before he could, he was held in place before getting his head chopped off by Kurotsuchi herself. The next morning they displayed his corpse to the public and told everyone what happened. The Tsuchikage then announced that anybody that tries to hurt the boy would be executed, either instantly or publically, and no amount of faithful service or spotless records would change it. Try to touch Naruto and you die, by the word of Ryotenbin no Oonuki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage.

"Come on Naruto, say Kaa-chan! You can do it. Say Kaa-chan." Kurotsuchi prodded. The boy was sitting in a high chair at the table as she was sitting in front of him smiling, trying to get the boy to talk. The Tsuchikage was sitting at the other end of the table drinking some coffee and finishing his breakfast. It was early morning and he was going to head into the office after his meal to do battle with the kage's mortal enemy; paperwork. But the papers of hell could wait until he finished his eggs.

"Don't children call their mother figures Kaa-_san_?" Oonuki asked, slightly annoyed as she had been trying to get the boy to speak for the past week and it was really grating on his nerves by now. Kurotsuchi just sent a small glare over at him.

"I'm not his real mother and I'm not that old. I want him to call me Kaa-_chan _and there's nothing you can do about it." She shot back before turning back to the boy and again trying to get him to speak. The old man just sighed.

"It's my village you annoying little bitch." He mumbled under his breath. Sadly, not quietly enough as she spun her head around at him. The last time someone called her a bitch, well there wasn't enough of the jonin to send back to the family to bury. Now obviously she couldn't do that to her kage and grandfather, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to just let him call her that.

"Listen here you-"

"Bitch"

Both froze with wide eyes and slowly turned their heads to Naruto who was giggling in his chair. He was waving his arms around at their faces, thoroughly enjoying the new funny faces they were looking at him with. "Bitch." He repeated, this time they noticed the lisp that carried with the word as his two year old self couldn't properly make the 'ch' sound. Kurotsuchi's eye twitched as her face stayed one of utter shock.

"His first word… is that…" By this time the Tsuchikage had finished his meal and vanished to his office with a shunshin. That paperwork never looked so fun!

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><p>"It's good to be home un." Deidara muttered as he walked into Iwa. He had just come off a long term S-rank mission and his plans were simple. Report his success, get some food, and sleep. As he walked down the main street towards the Tsuchikage's Office he paused as a massive killing intent washed over the village. Before anybody could wonder what was going on, it was followed by an equally terrifying voice.<p>

"**DAMN YOU TO HELL YOU FUCKING MISERABLE MIDGET OF A MAN! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"**

"Maybe I should get my lunch first un." Deidara whispered, unable to shake the feeling that the Tsuchikage's office was currently the entrance to the afterlife.

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><p>"Hello dear." Kitsuchi said as he walked into the house that night, returning from a mission himself. He saw that Kurotsuchi was fixing herself dinner as Naruto was in a small area of the living room closed off to be his play pen. "How was your day?" He asked, utterly exhausted from his own day.<p>

"Fine." Was the quick and surprisingly cold reply. The man could quickly tell something was wrong with his daughter. The last time she had used that voice was after breaking up with her last boyfriend. Which reminds me; I haven't hurt that bastard for making her cry. He thought before shaking the thought out of his head for the moment and looking towards his daughter, who had her back turned to him as she was focusing on her food.

"What happened?"

"Naruto spoke his first word today." She replied. Kitsuchi looked towards the blond boy who was happily playing with a red fox plushie.

"And? Why would that be a bad thing?" He asked, thoroughly confused. Weren't people happy when a baby learned their first word? He remembered his wife wouldn't shut up for weeks when Kurotsuchi had said her first word.

"It's the word he learned from Tsuchikage-oji-sama."

"And what word did he teach the boy?" He asked. She stayed silent and he was about to answer when young Naruto decided to say the word that got such funny reactions out of everyone around him.

"Bitch." Spoken with the cute lisp baby children have. Said baby started giggling like crazy as he saw Kitsuchi's expression and Kurotsuchi flinch from it. He didn't know why but that word made everyone put on a funny face. It was his new favorite toy! Right next to his fox toy. As Kitsuchi got over the shock of the boy cursing he looked over at his daughter who had set her food in the oven to cook before turning around and walking to the living room with an all-too-sweet smile on her face, completely offset by the tick mark on her forehead and twitching left eye.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Tsuchikage-_sama_ is would you?" She asked in silky sweet tones. Kitsuchi numbly shook his head before she turned around and walked back towards the kitchen. As soon as she left, Kitsuchi promptly got up and left the building. The Tsuchikage mansion was not going to be a safe place for the foreseeable future. He went into the village and rented out a hotel room for a week, hoping his daughter would get over it by then.

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><p>Unbeknownst to him, Oonuki was lying down to sleep in the penthouse suite of the same hotel with two of his ANBU to stand guard. He was Ryotenbin no Oonuki, Sandaime Tsuchikage of the great village of Iwagakure. He was the strongest ninja in the village and damn proud of the fact. He had total authority over his village. But if Kurotsuchi found him, he wasn't sure of what would happen. After all she was just a jonin and his granddaughter, she wouldn't do anything to him for fear of him punishing her. He just needed some time away from the mansion and the boy that couldn't let him sleep. He'd go back after a few days nice rest and tell her to drop it. The ANBU were just in case an assassin tried anything since the hotel wasn't rigged with security seals like his home was.<p>

He was Ryotenbin no Oonuki, Sandaime Tsuchikage of the great village of Iwagakure. And nobody told him what to do in his fucking village! That's what he repeated to himself as he went to sleep.


	3. Arc 1 Chapter 3

**Revan the Wicked: **You know, I was kinda surprised nobody commented or asked about pairings with the few reviews I got for chap 1. My other stories were hounded for pairing questions if I didn't outright say it.

But as for your request; while I won't say specifics, I will confirm that Naruto will not be paired with anybody from Konoha. A couple will become friends or rivals, but he will not have any romantic involvement in anybody affiliated with Konoha.

**To everyone else;** I'm glad you all loved the 'first word incident'. I based that off what happened with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. Him and I were playing a game while his sister was watching his baby cousin behind us trying to get her to talk. My buddy, idiot he is, commented that his sister was being an annoying bitch because she wouldn't shut up. Right before said girl snapped on him the baby said bitch. His sister instantly got their mother and the dude hasn't been let out of his room for anything more than a bathroom break since.

Anyways, on with the story!

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc One: Childhood<span>

**Chapter Three –** You're a Demon Weapon

"What's going on Kaa-chan?" A young blonde boy asked. He was wearing a red shirt with the Iwa symbol stitched into its front in white with grey shorts. On his feet were some shinobi sandals colored black. His right hand was rubbing his face as it was still early morning while his left was holding a small fox stuffed animal by the neck. Little did he know a certain demon was cringing at that fact.

"I'm busy Naruto. Go outside and practice molding your chakra or something." Replied a woman with black hair and violet eyes. She was wearing a tight fitting black short sleeved shirt and a red skirt. She was messing with something in front of her that Naruto couldn't see because he was behind her. When he tried to walk around her to see what she was doing she sighed and quickly grabbed him and stormed out of the house before he saw it. "I said OUT!" She shouted as she tossed him into the front yard. Naruto landed on his bum and dropped the fox toy as he pouted at Kurotsuchi being so secretive.

"Geez, what's her problem today?" Naruto muttered as he grabbed his toy and walked off to the small park Iwa had. It wasn't like the many massive parks in Konoha, mainly because Iwa wasn't in a forest but rather Iwa was located in the center of a large valley surrounded by the mountains of Tsuchi no Kuni. So as such, the few parks Iwa had were small. Naruto went to the main one and just hopped down on the swing set as he lightly swung himself with his toy in his lap. "Kaa-chan sure was hiding something. I just wish I knew what damn it."

"Don't let Kuro-chan hear you swear gaki, she'll tear you a new one." Naruto's eyes shot up at the voice to see the only other blonde in Iwa walking up to him. "Remember last time she found out you cursed?" He said with a smirk. Naruto jumped out of the swing and ran up and hugged the jonin.

"Dei-nii-san!" He cheered. Deidara just chuckled a bit. Sure he at first thought the kid was nothing but trouble but after he grew up a bit and could walk and talk, the blonde grew on him. He just seemed to draw people to him for some reason. The boy had also come to start calling him nii-san which just made everybody laugh for a while. To get back at what was at first a humiliation to him, Deidara started calling him gaki, much to everyone's amusement. But after a while, the two just got close and the nii-san/gaki exchange just stuck. "Why're you here nii-san? Didn't Tsuchikage-oji-sama give you a mission?" Naruto asked as he stepped back and looked up to his face. Deidara smirked down at the kid as he ruffled his hair.

"Like some measly A-rank is gonna keep me out of town for long. Oh hey, did you hear? I've got a bingo book listing now." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black book before flipping through it and handing it to the boy, opened to a specific page. Naruto took it and started reading.

"Name; Deidara. Title; Iwa's Mad Bomber. Rank; Jonin. Village; Iwa. Threat Level; A-rank. Bounty; 560,000,000 ryo offered by Kumo and Konoha. Skill set; Explosive kinjustu known only to Iwa, Bakuton kekkei genkai. Orders; All ninja B-rank and below are to flee-on-sight and A-rank plus are to use extreme caution. Target is known to change the landscape with his jutsu's and prefers long-range combat." As Naruto finished reading he looked up to the smirking blonde with stars in his eyes. "This is totally awesome! You rock nii-san!" Deidara chuckled as he took the bingo book back.

"Don't you know it. The only problem I have with it is my title. I'm not a mad bomber, I'm an artist. I'd much rather be known as Iwa's Explosive Artist. After all, art…" He trailed off, but Naruto knew what he was saying.

"Is a bang!" He shouted. Unlike most of Iwa, Naruto thought Deidara's explosives were great and he loved watching him make sculptures just to blow them up. Deidara laughed and picked the little boy up and place him on his shoulders.

"That's right gaki. At least you appreciate my talent."

"That's cause the big booms are really loud and cool!" Naruto said excitedly as Deidara laughed. The jonin started walking back towards the Tsuchikage mansion with Naruto on his shoulders talking about how secretive his Kaa-chan was being earlier. Now Deidara knew exactly why, but feigned ignorance to the child to keep him out of the loop. This was the real reason he finished his mission quickly, not that it was hard to begin with. As they got to the door Deidara knocked.

"Who is it?" Came Kurotsuchi's voice.

"Deidara, I've got the gaki with me too." He called back. She said it was fine for them to come in and Deidara did, but then quickly tossed up a small flash grenade in Naruto's eyes.

"Ah, Dei-nii-san! You trying to blind me?" The boy shouted out and started rubbing his eyes, his fox toy dropped on the floor. As his vision slowly returned he saw a couple blurs standing in the living room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO-KUN!" Came the loud cheer from Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi and Deidara. Naruto's vision finally got back to normal as he looked and saw his Kaa-chan and Aka-nii-chan, as he called Akatsuchi, standing behind the table with a large white cake that read 'Happy Fifth Birthday' on it in red. Naruto instantly started grinning as Deidara set him down and he ran up and hugged Kurotsuchi.

"You forgot it was your birthday didn't you Naruto-kun?" She asked with a slight smile. He looked away in embarrassment as she laughed. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"

"Probably kick me out and start smooching Dei-nii-san like you do when oji-sama isn't around." He muttered. She froze, her face turning slightly red. As did Deidara's but nobody noticed it before Naruto ran away from her.

"You damn brat!" Before she could grab him Naruto had climbed the giant form of Akatsuchi and was hiding behind his head.

"Help Aka-nii-chan!" He cried out as Akatsuchi laughed. The large man just grabbed the boy and held him even higher so that his Kaa-chan couldn't get to him without jumping up. Naruto and the big man laughed as she fumed that he was out of her reach before she leveled a glare at Akatsuchi.

"Put him down now so I can punish him for that remark." Akatsuchi started to lower him and Naruto's face paled more and more as the ground became closer. Just as Kurotsuchi was about to grab him and hit him, Akatsuchi tossed him into the air, getting the boy to cry out in joy and start laughing.

"Ah just let it go Kurotsuchi. Naruto didn't mean it." The big man said as he caught the boy just to toss him right back up. Kurotsuchi sighed but had a smile on her face as she watched the boy smile and laugh as he was repeatedly tossed up high and caught. Finally Akatsuchi caught him but didn't toss him back up. "Anyways Naruto-kun, you ready for your cake?"

"Cake!" He shouted in happiness. The big man set him down as the three jonin laughed. The rest of the day was spent just playing around with the boy and having fun with him. Kurotsuchi had gotten him a large set of training kunai and shurikan since he really wanted to be a ninja. (They would've trained him in the shinobi arts anyways but him wanting it made it much easier to get the boy ready) Akatsuchi had used his skill in making golems to make a life size statue of him that could move around if a little chakra was pushed into it. And then towards the end of the night, they all went outside and Deidara put on a little fireworks show for the boy. All in all, it was a great day for the blonde jinchuriki.

* * *

><p>The next day had Kurotsuchi bringing Naruto to the Tsuchikage's office at noon. The old man had something to tell Naruto and it was decided he'd learn of it after his fifth birthday. The two were let into his office and saw he was alone, his ANBU being out completing other orders. Besides he was only meeting with his granddaughter (an Iwa jonin with a flawless loyal record) and a young boy that couldn't even fight yet. "Good afternoon you two. Enjoy yourself yesterday Naruto?"<p>

"You bet Oji-sama! The cake was awesome! Kaa-chan made sure to save a slice for you back home." Naruto exclaimed as he ran up to his desk and was just smiling at the kage. Oonuki smirked and glanced up to Kurotsuchi who just had a slight smile on her face. She knew what this was about and personally felt the meeting could go either way; it could embolden Naruto to Iwa and Konoha's eventual destruction or it could get him to turn traitor and want to leave. If the latter option happened, they would have no choice but to rip out his demon and put it in someone else and that would kill him. Kurotsuchi really became close to the young blonde and wanted to avoid that at all costs, but she knew how things worked in a shinobi village. First comes your loyalty to your village and kage, then to your family and friends.

"How thoughtful. Thank you Kurotsuchi." He said as she sat down and then held Naruto in her lap. "Now Naruto, I'm going to tell you two things today. It was decided when you were brought to us that you would learn this information when you turn five. At Kurotsuchi's insistence, we held off on telling you this on your birthday. Instead letting you enjoy yourself and not be bothered with it. But now is the time you will. Understand so far?" Oonuki asked as the young blonde nodded his head with a serious expression on his face. "You weren't born in Iwa and we aren't your family. Rather, you were born in Konoha-"

"But Konoha is the enemy! Why would you guys be so nice to the enemy? I don't believe you! I call bull-" Naruto exclaimed before getting slapped in the back of the head by his Kaa-chan.

"Language Naruto-kun. He will get to that. Let him finish and then you'll understand why we're taking such good care of you." Kurotsuchi said as Naruto rubbed his head. He nodded and looked back to the Tsuchikage who had a neutral expression on his face.

"Do not interrupt me again Naruto or the punishment will be severe." After a 'yes Tsuchikage-sama' the old man continued. "Now as I was saying, you were born in Konoha. In fact, you are the son of one Uzumaki Kushina and the _Konoha no Kiiroi Senku_, Namikaze Minato." He paused to let that info sink in as Naruto's face went blank. Not only was he born in the village Iwa hated, he was the son of their most hated enemy. Nothing made sense to him. Iwa hated anything to do with those 'tree-huggers' as they put it. They wanted nothing more than to resurrect that 'bastard flash' just so they could have the pleasure of killing him themselves. Yet he was the son of their greatest enemy, and he was being taken care of by the Tsuchikage's family.

"Why?" He muttered. The old kage let him get away with talking when he was supposed to be quiet but let it slide since it was a viable question.

"That is the other piece of information I will be telling you. Five years ago, on the day you were born, the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked Konoha. We are unsure of the how or why but the demon appeared and went on a rampage. Your mother apparently died somehow that day, likely either childbirth or from the fox itself. Your father took the newborn you and saved the village by sacrificing his life to make you a jinchuriki." At Naruto's confused expression Kurotsuchi butted in.

"Lift your shirt Naruto-kun." He did and wondered what she wanted. "Now channel chakra towards your stomach." Again he did and his eyes widened as a complex sealing array faded into sight. "A jinchuriki is a human with a demon inside them. Kyuubi is right behind that seal Naruto-kun." She told him as Naruto was now staring in shock at his stomach like he could explode at any moment.

"You can calm down boy, the seal is fine and the fox isn't going to get out." Oonuki said as Naruto was still staring at the design. "If that bastard flash was good at anything it was his fuuinjutsu. But anyways, this is why you were kept alive. You're a demon weapon Naruto." Naruto dropped his shirt before looking up at the Tsuchikage in childlike curiosity.

"Okay, but if I was born in Konoha and I'm the son of their greatest hero then how come I'm here with their biggest enemies? I mean, wouldn't they be treating me like royalty and training me to fight for them?" He asked. The Tsuchikage snorted.

"Because they weren't treating you like royalty." Seeing him confused Oonuki pulled out a scroll. "You were being sent out of the village to be raised off on the border by civilians. However some of Konoha's ninja apparently didn't like this decision and a fight broke out between your protector and the others. Deidara and his team stumbled across the aftermath and found that you were the only one alive. They read this exact scroll, which they found in your protectors pouch, and that convinced them to bring you here. I decided you would be raised by Iwa and placed under Kurotsuchi's care. And we will train you to not only use your demonic power but give you all the skills you need to take out Konoha with us. If you don't want to attack them, then read the scroll the Hokage wrote when he kicked you out. That'll be more than enough to convince you that those cursed tree lovers need to die." He said as he handed the scroll to the young blonde.

_Dear Jin,_

_It's Hiruzen, how are you? I know you must be wondering why there is now a jonin and newborn there with you but I have a favor to ask of you. You see, the Kyuubi has attacked Konoha and Minato sacrificed his life to seal the best into his son, the boy my jonin brought. His mother Uzumaki Kushina is also dead. I have a couple questions as to how this all happened but that is not the point right now. When word of how our beloved Yondaime defeated the beast reached the civilians they started to cry out for the boys' death. Even many of my own ninja forces are rallying towards the cause. I cannot let the son of their hero and the very reason they're alive be killed for their foolish hatred. So I'm sending him to you. I know from your last visit, you and your wife were wanting to adopt a child. So I'm asking you to take young Naruto here. I just have few things to ask._

_Treat the boy as just that, a boy. He is not the demon within him like the idiots here think. Also, never tell him of his heritage as the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Iwa would like nothing better than to get some twisted revenge on Minato by killing his child. So raise him as your own, Naruto must not be told who he really is._

_Never bring him to Konoha. Please follow this above all else. Our sensors could likely feel the demon within the boy and then that would alert everyone as to who he is and defeat the purpose of sending him away. If you must bring him here then alert me beforehand so that I can set things up so that he won't be discovered. But I pray you'll never have reason to._

_And finally, do not train him in any ninja arts. I know you are a civilian, but you're also friends with a few ninja. If Naruto receives ninja training he may stumble onto what he contains. If that happens there's no telling what could happen. So to avoid that, do not let him so much as learn how to mold chakra._

_I'm sorry for forcing this on you but I hope you understand and will still raise the boy. Naruto has gone through more than most others have and it hasn't even been a day since he was born._

_Signed Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha_

As Naruto finished his face was held down and the letter was set back on the desk. Kurotsuchi was worried about how Naruto would react because this would decide if he lives or dies. Oonuki on the other hand was quite confident in what the boy would say. "Well Naruto? Do you see why we want you to help us destroy Konoha?"

"They wanted to kill the son of their hero because he was a hero." Naruto mumbled. "I mean, if their Yondaime didn't put the Kyuubi in me then they all would've died right? So I should be a hero to them. But they wanted to kill me." Naruto then looked up, his eyes full of anger and determination. "Well I'll show them! They wanted to kill me cause they thought I was a demon so I'll show them a real demon. The only one I'll spare is the Hokage for protecting me! The rest of the village can go and die!" Oonuki smirked as Kurotsuchi let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Good choice Naruto. You start training in a week."


	4. Arc 1 Chapter 4

**grimangel163:** Okay, that just sounds stupid. Did the Hinata of that story leave Konoha for some reason or was she totally loyal like canon and then Naruto fell for her? Cause I just can't see an anti-Konoha Naruto being paired with anybody loyal to the village he hates.

**Anonymous Demon:** Revealed this chapter, enjoy!

**Orchamus:** No. A nice idea, but no. I already have most of Naruto's skill set planned out already and Jinton is not a part of it.

**DUST STROM:** For the Jinton, read above. As for Samui, sorry but no. I have decided the pairing but you all must wait for her to make her appearance. Just know that she's not from Konoha and I'm not doing a harem story here.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc One: Childhood<span>

**Chapter Four** – Deals with Demons

The training was tough, no denying that. As soon as they had left the office, Kurotsuchi had gone over the basics of what he would be taught. Naruto was told the training would start next week, but she felt that she could start him on the intellectual training right away. What this meant was memorizing the rules of being an Iwa shinobi and some small scale tactics lessons. And to help him further, she taught him shogi, an intelligence game formerly used to test battle plans. And Naruto absolutely sucked at it, losing to even Akatsuchi who was well known for being a horrible shogi player. But he was just starting out so he still had tons of room for improvement. If he was still losing to the giant years later then there would be concerns.

After a week of training his mind Kurotsuchi started training his body. She started off by getting him weighted wristbands and ankle bands. Starting him off small, just ten pounds per arm and fifteen per leg. But he was only five so it was still pretty tough for him. After giving him the weights she had him run laps around the mansion and then push-ups and sit-ups without breaks. And that was just a warm up. Poor little boy collapsed on the ground after the laps, which really shocked Kurotsuchi since the kid never ran out of energy. Exhaustion and Naruto were never used in the same sentence.

Still, after a couple weeks he could do everything she told him to do without a problem. To encourage and help him along, Kurotsuchi would do the exercises with him. She also had him working on chakra control exercises and was still teaching him other things like basic math and other things a ninja would need to know. However she wasn't going to teach him any jutsu. Not yet anyways. There were a couple reasons but the main was that the academy and then his jonin sensei would teach him those. Over time she also upgraded his weights by five pounds each. He was still a kid so she was taking it slow. He was training harder than any other child his age in the village, but he wasn't being forced to become a super-powered killer right off the bat.

* * *

><p>"Okay Naruto-kun, take five. We'll start on the katas afterwards." Kurotsuchi said. She was wearing her full ninja gear because she was going to be leaving for a mission that night. Oonuki said he was going to have someone watch the kid and keep up his training so she wasn't worried. She figured he'd be fine for a few days.<p>

"Finally!" Said energetic blond dropped down on the ground and was breathing heavily. She had upgraded his weights today so he was tired even though he was used to the exercises by now. He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt and had on dark blue shorts and shinobi sandals of the same color. "You're a slave driver Kaa-chan I swear." Kurotsuchi sighed and shook her head.

"What did I tell you about complaining?" Naruto paled.

"Complaining gets me double the workout." He muttered. Kurotsuchi smirked as she stood over him. Naruto was easily getting scared she was going to do something to him. She reached down with one hand and he closed his eyes to avoid seeing what he was going to do. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" Naruto started rapidly repeating as she started pulling him to his feat by the ear.

"Since I have a mission later today, I can't double the workout for you. So instead, were going to finish up the routine without any breaks for the rest of the day." She smirked as he stared at her horrified. "Now get into the first stance so that we can start. And if you slack off then when I get back from my mission, you will be doing a lot more than just this." She threatened as he quickly got into position. Ah the joys of teaching.

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><p>"So what am I doing Oji-sama?" Naruto asked. He was standing at the main gate to the village with Oonuki standing right next to him. Unsurprisingly, the five year old was the same height as the old kage. "I thought you were gonna have someone come train me while Kaa-chan is gone."<p>

"Sort of. Just they're not coming here to train you. You're going to him." Oonuki answered. He then pointed ahead to a man that was walking up to the gate. He had red hair done up in a ponytail and a red beard covering the lower half of his face. Across his nose was a black strap and his headband was more of a brown crown with a gold ring looped into the right side. He wore was looked like the standard jonin uniform only the flak jacket was brown while the rest was purple. "Naruto, meet Roshi. He will be training you for the next two weeks."

"So this is the kid, eh Oonuki-sama?" Roshi asked as he walked up. He knelt down and put a hand to his chin as he looked him in the eyes long and hard before smirking. "I think I can work with this brat." This comment of course got said brats attention.

"I'm not a brat! My name is Namikaze Naruto and I'm gonna be the strongest ninja in Iwa!" He shouted. Roshi laughed as Oonuki smirked.

"Oh yeah, I can definitely work with the brat for a couple weeks. Well come on kid, we've got a bit of training to do." He said before standing up and leaving the way he came up. Naruto was a little confused but just gave a short bow to Oonuki before heading after the taller man.

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><p>"So what are you gonna teach me?" Naruto asked as the two were walking down a mountain path away from Iwa. Roshi actually looked surprised and turned his head down to face him.<p>

"Oonuki didn't tell you?" Naruto shook his head no causing Roshi to sigh. "Did he tell you anything about me or why I don't live in the village?" Again the blond shook his head no. "*sigh* That old midget is gonna get himself in trouble one of these days. Alright, I guess I better explain. I know you're the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko. Well I am the jinchuriki to the Yonbi no Saru. I am going to teach you how to contact and draw on your demon's power."

"We couldn't do that back home?" Naruto asked. He was surprised that there were more like him out there but after some thought figured he was being stupid since how else would Iwa know so much about his condition if there weren't.

"Learning how to use a bijuu's power is very dangerous. If you don't have total control then you could draw too much and your demon could take over. If Kyuubi is anything like Yonbi, then it hates being trapped in a human so it would likely start killing any and everybody it were to come across in vengeance. That's why were heading to my home out here in the mountains. I left Iwa with Oonuki's permission years ago with the promise that I wouldn't come back until I had total control over the Yonbi." Roshi explained as they came up on a small hut next to a lake. The hut wasn't much, it looked like it was created through Doton jutsus seeing as how it literally just seemed like it one day sprouted from the ground. Roshi first led Naruto inside and showed him the single room. Just a bed in one corner and a small pit in the center for him to start a fire. A few clothes and tools were hanging on the walls but overall it was very bare. "Alright Naruto. Now, tell me what you can do now."

"Um… I'm pretty strong for my age according to Kaa-chan. And um… I have decent chakra control compared to how much chakra I have. The only things I've really been taught though are tree-walking and smart stuff like math and shogi." Naruto said. Roshi looked him over to see if the boy was lying or anything but could tell he wasn't. He really wasn't taught much yet; which made Roshi wonder why Oonuki wanted him to start learning how to use Kyuubi's chakra already.

"Okay then. Do you know how to meditate?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head to the side. Roshi let out a sigh and rubbed his hand over his face.

"Alright I guess that's first then. I want you to sit down and stay still. Clear your mind of just about everything." He said as he sat down and crossed his legs. Naruto copied him as Roshi started a fire and set a pot with some water from the lake he had to boil. "In order to use your bijuu's chakra you have to either make a deal with the beast or force it to hand the stuff over. The Yonbi in me hates humans with a passion and refuses to make any deal so I have to force it. Iwa's other jinchuriki, Han, has the Gobi no Irukauma. He was able to set up a deal with his bijuu and as such has a far easier time controlling its power than I do."

"Then why isn't he teaching me Roshi-san?" Naruto asked. Roshi shook his head.

"It's because of Han's personality and because of who you are." Naruto looked confused so Roshi explained. "Han fought in the Second and Third great wars. He hates Konoha and anything related to it. Your father was the Yondaime Hokage; Han would kill you on sight, Tsuchikage's orders be damned. It also doesn't help that you're very close to Oonuki and his family. You see, Han has been treated like a monster since the day he had the Gobi stuck in him. And the Niidaime Tsuchikage ordered him to live outside the village, mainly because everyone was scared that he might lose control. This has caused Han to hate Iwa. He won't go rogue because he knows he'll just be hunted and killed and the Gobi would just be shoved into someone else. But at the same time he wants nothing to do with any of us. He barely tolerates me because I have the Yonbi. But you; Kyuubi or not you represent everything he hates or wanted. You're allowed to live in the village, with Oonuki and his family no less. You haven't ever been treated like a monster in Iwa, despite having the strongest of them all inside you. Add in your heritage of Iwa's greatest foe and to Han you're nothing more than a bastard that has everything he's ever wanted because of everything he's ever hated."

"Oh."

"Now, clear your mind. Just sit there and think about Kyuubi. If you're doing it right you should be drawn into the seal to speak with the beast." Roshi explained as Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. Roshi was silent as he poured himself some tea and took a drink just waiting for Naruto to speak. He didn't want to break Naruto's focus but at the same time he was also a very patient man and just sitting and waiting while drinking some tea was a very relaxing way to train the boy. About half an hour later Naruto sighed.

"Um… I don't think it's working."

"So you just sat still for half an hour without contacting Kyuubi or anything?" Naruto nodded. "Oh well, we've got two weeks for you to contact the beast. Just keep trying for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I'll show you water walking to help with your chakra control. And then we can do a few simple exercises to tire you out a bit. It's usually easier to make contact when you're tired." Roshi said. Naruto again nodded and asked if he could have some tea while he tried to think about meeting his inner demon.

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><p>Such was how the next few days would go. Get up, meditate for an hour or two, attempt water-walking for another hour or so, and then physical exercise until Roshi told him to stop. A simple meal and then meditating for the rest of the night until he fell asleep. Naruto got the hang of water-walking on the third day, able to make it all the way to the center of the lake and back without falling or sinking. So Roshi added running laps on the lake to the boy's physical exercise. Needless to say, the blond started getting exhausted a little more. Jinchuriki or not, there was a limit to a five year olds stamina.<p>

Meals would be fish that Roshi would catch while Naruto was training or some wild deer or boar he hunted from the light woods around them. The elder jinchuriki was patient with the blond but also expected more and wouldn't let him stop until he was satisfied. And he was starting to think that perhaps there was something about his seal that was stopping Naruto from contacting the fox too early in life. He had managed to reach the Yonbi after meditating for a few hours on his second try. Naruto still hadn't made any progress. Either the boy couldn't properly clear his mind or the seal was interfering somehow. But at the end of the first day he was proven wrong. Roshi walked back into the hut with a small bundle of fish over his shoulder. "Alright Naruto, time for some dinner." He muttered as he sat down across from the boy who was sitting cross legged on the ground with his eyes closed. When Roshi didn't get an answer he looked at the boy and snapped his fingers. This still got no response causing the red haired man to smirk. "Brat finally did it huh?"

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><p>"Where am I?" Naruto spoke to himself as he looked around. He was standing in what looked like a sewer with a few leaky pipes dripping water all over. He was just wandering aimlessly as he tried to figure out what was going on. He was practicing his meditating while Roshi went fishing when suddenly he just woke up on his back in a sewer he'd never seen before. Was it a dream of some kind? Did he pass out and Roshi took him back to Iwa and toss him in the sewers for failing to contact Kyuubi? Naruto just didn't know. As he kept walking he soon came upon a large room. One wall of the room was a large barred cage. The lock covered by a small slip of paper with the kanji for seal written on it. "No way…" Naruto muttered as he started to peace together where he was.<p>

"**So the warden finally visits his prisoner. I was wondering when I'd see you human."** A dark and loud voice spoke out. Naruto's eyes were firmly set on the darkness beyond the cage as a large red eye opened up to stare back at him. **"Well well, you're a lot younger than I expected you to be when we had our first meeting."** Slowly another eye opened up and a large red fox seemed to fade into view. It was easily as tall as the cage it was in and it's eyes just screamed pain and suffering to anybody that angered it. But the thing that caught the young blonds' attention was the nine long red tails that flowed behind the beast.

"You're the Kyuubi aren't you?" Naruto asked as he took a few steps closer to the cage.

"**I am. Now what can I do for you little human?"** The fox asked as it lowered its head to the ground to try and be closer to eye level with the boy. Naruto just walked up a little closer to the cage as he stared at the bijuu with a blank face. After a few minutes of silence the fox was starting to get a little annoyed that the boy was still just staring at him. **"Do you want something or am I just that interesting boy?"** He asked with a slight amount of anger in his voice. Naruto suddenly seemed to snap out of whatever he was doing and smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, it's just I can't believe I did it. I've been trying to talk to you for about a week." The fox just rolled its eyes as the boy then cleared his throat. "Okay, what I'm here for is to learn how to use your power. Roshi-san said to try and make a deal with you if I could and to force you if I couldn't. So let's make a deal. Is there anything you want that I can get you in return for you giving me your power when I need it?" Naruto asked, trying to sound mature and business like.

"**My freedom would be nice boy."**

"Sorry but Roshi-san said that's the one thing I have to refuse no matter what. Anything else though is possible if Tsuchikage-oji-sama says okay." Naruto answered right away. The fox kept its eyes focused on Naruto as it thought about what it could get from him. Sleeping in a cage was definitely a very boring existence. If he refused then the boy would just train and force it, which due to the seal he could do. But if Kyuubi made a deal then he could possibly get his freedom anyways by having the boy 'accidentally' draw too much power and break the seal. He could do that if he was being forced too but it would be harder and take more.

"**I want to destroy the village that imprisoned me for so long and kill a certain man."** The fox told him. Naruto squinted his eyes as he looked up at the great demon.

"Konoha put you in me when I was born but Iwa hasn't taken you out because they want me to use you. Plus it's only been five years, that's not very long according to Kaa-chan." The fox surprised Naruto when it started laughing.

"**Five years? You think that's all I've been imprisoned for? Here's a news flash for you boy; that place you call Konoha has had me for near a hundred years!"** It shouted. Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at the beast.** "I was first sealed into the wife of their Shodai Hokage. Then before she died I was transferred into a young girl. And just as I manage to get my freedom and exact some well deserved revenge on the village for keeping me prisoner; that girl's lover, the Yondaime Hokage, shoves me into you!"** Naruto was now staring, mouth wide open, at the demon.

"The Yondaime's lover? That was my mother! You mean you were sealed in my Okaa-san?" Naruto shouted. The fox looked wide-eyed for a second before looking closely at the boy. It then broke into a grin after a few seconds.

"**Now this is a surprise. I thought that bastard just grabbed some random child after I got free but he used his own son! Hahahahahaha! What a bastard! To seal me, an entity of pure hatred and malevolence into his own child! And people call me evil!"** The fox just kept laughing as Naruto was now thinking that his mother was the previous jinchuriki to the fox. From what he was told by Roshi, a jinchuriki dies once their demon is removed. All he knew was his mother died in the attack somehow. Well now he knew she died at the very start of the attack. Naruto then shook his head trying to get back to the deal.

"So you wanna destroy Konoha and kill someone. Is this guy from Iwa?" Naruto shouted since the fox was still laughing. Kyuubi looked down at the boy as it slowly stopped its laughing.

"**No he is not. He left his village before I was sealed into my first host. He also ripped me out of your mother but then placed me under a genjutsu before I could kill him."** The fox explained. Naruto nodded.

"Ok then. I think Tsuchikage-oji-sama will be alright with those terms. I just gotta let him know before we agree to it." Naruto said before he looked around. "Say Kyuubi, do you know how to get out of here?" He asked as he looked back up at the giant. The fox deadpanned at the boy before sighing.

"**Focus on the real world and you should leave. Now that you know what this place looks like you should be able to get here faster on your own as well. Now leave me."** The fox explained then ordered the boy. Naruto just gave a slight nod before closing his eyes and focusing. It wasn't long before he faded out of sight. Kyuubi stared at where he was for a few seconds before sighing and closing its eyes. **'Kit is interesting, I'll give him that much. Not once did he look at me with fear in his eyes. That takes guts.'**


	5. Arc 1 Chapter 5

**Lazruth:** No to Yugito, no to Temari, no to Fuu, and _**HELL NO**_ to Isaribi and Kagero. I don't bother with fillar shit. I prefer to make my own OCs and arcs than use fillar arcs. I'm fine with when the anime expands a canon arc with some bits of fillar, especially during the fight scenes because those almost always turn out twice as epic as they did in the manga, but a fillar arc is nothing more than a fake place holder that gives nothing important to the storyline.

That is my honest opinion on fillars and why I only bother with the anime when it comes to the fight scenes. Otherwise, you'll never see me leave the manga.

As for Mei, she has that mature beauty that lots of people like. I just think she's hilarious with Ao when he starts making the wrong comments near her.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc One: Childhood<span>

**Chapter Five – **The Rising Child

The next week was far harder than learning to contact the fox apparently. After Naruto woke up and told Roshi that he had contacted the fox and what the bijuu wanted, Roshi wrote it down on a scroll and used a messenger hawk he had to see if Oonuki would approve of the terms so that Naruto could begin using Kyuubi's chakra safely. So Roshi spent the time waiting by showing Naruto just what he'd be able to do with the bijuu's power.

He took him to the lake where he then started channeling chakra from the Yonbi. Roshi was soon covered in a brownish-red cloak of energy that shaped itself into the shape of a monkey with three tails. "I've almost got total control over my demon. This is something all jinchuriki can do, the chakra cloak. All it is is the demonic chakra leaking out of your body and taking on the shape of your beast around you. This grants you better defensive abilities along with greater strength and speed. However, without training you can lose yourself to the beast. While I'm like this, I have a much harder time holding back from flat out obliterating my enemies and from just going around destroying everything around me." He explained as he turned off the cloak. "All jinchuriki also gain something unique depending on the bijuu that can be accessed even without using their chakra. For example, watch." He then turned and started making hand-signs before spitting out a large glob of lava that started steaming and cooling when it hit the lake's surface. "By having the Yonbi within me, I can use Yoton Jutsu. (Lava Release) Normally this is only for those with the Kekkei Genkai, however I gained it due to my bijuu."

"Cool! Does this mean I have some super awesome power from Kyuubi?" Naruto shouted as he stared at Roshi with stars in his eyes. Said man took a moment to bask in the child's' awe before getting serious again.

"You should, but I don't know what it will be. Han, the other jinchuriki, has Jouton abilities. (Steam Release) You might get another element or something completely different. I've heard from Iwa's spies that the current Hachibi Jinchuriki didn't gain an elemental ability from his bijuu. Neither did the Sanbi's if the reports are right." Roshi said as an afterthought. Naruto nodded and started thinking about what he could have when Roshi spoke up again. "Even if Oonuki says no to Kyuubi's terms and you have to force it, you'll still get whatever ability the seal grants you in addition to its chakra. And before you even think about it, no. Do not go into the seal and ask the fox about this. Wait until we get the old midgets' answer and then you can talk to the fox about it." Naruto sighed but nodded. The two spent the rest of the day sparring on the lake to help Naruto focus and build up his strength.

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><p>The next morning however was eventful. The hawk returned with Oonuki's response, which was as expected. 'So long as Kyuubi's target wasn't an Iwa shinobi they were agreeable terms and Naruto was clear to proceed.' After breakfast, Roshi told Naruto to meditate and work out the finer points with the fox. Since the boy no knew what to look for in his head, he managed to reach his mindscape in about ten minutes and was standing in front of the cage holding the mighty bijuu. <strong>"So, I'm guessing you have your leader's answer?"<strong> Kyuubi stated as he once more lowered his head to be closer to the child.

"Tsuchikage-oji-sama said that so long as your target isn't from Iwa and doesn't later become a valuable part of Iwa's forces, we're free to kill him on sight." Naruto said as he walked a bit closer to the cage. Kyuubi smirked at getting what it wanted as Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes. "So uh… how does this work exactly? Do you just give me chakra when I ask and that's it? Or is there some kind of long and complicated thing I gotta do?" Kyuubi was surprised but his the fact from the boy. He had honestly expected that to be it, a quick confirmation and then he'd be left alone to be the boy's secret power. Now he could see that he might be able to milk a slight few comforts from the boy without harm.

"**Well for one, we need to establish a mental link so that we can speak with one another without you having to come into the seal. This will make it easier to give you my chakra, as well as let you speak with me through your thoughts so I can help you in other matters if I am able. A side effect is it will let me see and experience the world through you, so I'll know what's going on around you without you having to explain it."** The demon explained. Naruto nodded, finding it agreeable. **"Also, if possible; could you change this cage? I hate this sewer and would prefer something more comfortable."**

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head to the side in a way that would've had women screaming 'KAWAI!' and hugging him. Kyuubi shrugged its shoulders, or did whatever the fox equivalent of the action would be.

"**I don't know. This is your mind, you should control its appearance."** Kyuubi muttered as it didn't know itself. Naruto just nodded and closed his eyes and focused. Kyuubi could feel the boy channeling his chakra as well as his own demonic chakra subconsciously without realizing it. There was a large flash of red light and suddenly the area looked like the lake and forested mountain range that Naruto was currently with Roshi at. Kyuubi also noticed that its cage was gone, replaced by a rather large collar with a black gem shaped like the kanji for seal. Seeing that it was out of the cage, Kyuubi smirked. It was quite fine with its new arrangements. **"Thank you child. This will work nicely."**

"No problem." Naruto said as he was gasping and trying to catch his breath. He had just focused on the area he wanted and suddenly felt really drained. But Kyuubi was happy with it so maybe it would be nicer to him and help him out some more. "So um… how do we make that mental link?" He asked as he took a seat on the ground next to the bijuu. Kyuubi looked down at the boy before using one of its tails to tap him in the center of his forehead.

"**Done."**

"Wait that's it?"

"**Yes, that's it."**

"That was kinda lame."

"**Not everything is some large and flashy technique kit."** Kyuubi muttered as it curled itself into a ball, facing Naruto. **"Now is there anything else?"**

"Um… I don't think so… Oh wait! Roshi-san said that because you're in me I get some kind of cool ability in addition to your chakra. What is it?" Naruto asked as he stood back up and got ready to leave.

"**Oh that. You've gained regeneration."**

"Regerner-wha?" Naruto asked with a clueless look on his face.

"**Regeneration."** The fox repeated. **"It means that you can and will heal from any non-fatal wound. If you get a cut, it'll be gone in minutes. If you break a few bones, they'll be fixed in a day. If someone chops off your arm, it'll be back in a few weeks or months. You can and will heal from **_**any**_** non-fatal wound. This also means you can't get sick and poisons at their worst will make you feel ill but they can't flat out kill you. Whatever doesn't kill you, will always be fixed." **Kyuubi explained to the boy. Naruto looked a little put down that he didn't get some kind of amazing jutsu style but understood that healing and never getting sick were also blessings. It meant he could be an even greater ninja and would never have to worry about getting hurt too badly.

"Ok, thanks Kyuubi-san. I'll talk to you later I guess." Naruto said as he faded out of the newly redesigned mindscape. Kyuubi just closed its eyes and went back to sleep, wondering how things would be now that the deal was made.

After the meeting, Naruto explained everything to Roshi. The man grinned at Naruto when told of his regeneration. He then said he needed to test it and quickly tossed a kunai which stabbed him in the arm. After some cursing from the boy and laughing from the man, they watched as the wound seemed to steam as it closed before their eyes. Roshi also asked him to try and pull on Kyuubi's chakra so that they could see how it affected him. Said fox told him he couldn't handle a tails' worth of power yet because he was too young but still gave him some power which made his eyes turn red with slitted pupils as well as lengthening his incisors and thickening his whisker marks. Naruto explained that his young body couldn't handle a lot of power and Roshi nodded saying he expected as much. He then had Naruto go through a few exercises to let him see the difference Kyuubi's chakra made and the boy was surprised that everything seemed incredibly easy. After he finished the exercises he let go of his hold on Kyuubi's chakra and seemed to stare at his hands in wonder and awe. They spent the rest of the day fishing while Roshi explained some of the do's and don'ts of his bijuu chakra before going to sleep. Now that his training with Roshi was done, he would return to Iwa in the morning.

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><p>"Nice to see you again Naruto-kun. I hope you're ready for some more training tomorrow." Kurotsuchi said as she met the boy and Roshi at Iwa's gates. The boy just ran up and gave her a hug while Roshi kept up his slower pace.<p>

"I missed you Kaa-chan. But now, I'm stronger than ever! Just you wait; soon I'll be a better ninja than you are." The girl just smiled at him before giving a short bow to Roshi.

"Thanks for training him Roshi-sama. I'll take him back from here. Do you have anything for Tsuchikage-sama or will you just be leaving again?" She asked. Not known to many, Kurotsuchi highly respected the Yonbi jinchuriki for his skill and ability with Yoton techniques. Especially because she carried that bloodline herself from her mothers side.

"Give him this scroll. It just tells him what I trained the boy with. Wasn't much really. I just taught him water-walking and how to draw on Kyuubi's power. It also lists what he gained from the fox and what changes he goes through when he uses its power." He said as he handed her a scroll. Roshi then ruffled the young blonds' hair before leaving for his hut once more. Kurotsuchi just said her thanks and goodbye before leading Naruto to the Tsuchikage's office. She needed to give him the scroll and they both wanted to know what Naruto could do now.

* * *

><p>"Welcome back Naruto. I trust you've accomplished the training?" Oonuki asked. In all honesty, he knew he did. He just had to keep up with appearances though so he didn't mention it. Naruto stood in front of his desk and nodded enthusiastically to his superior and adoptive grandfather. Kurotsuchi handed the man the scroll Roshi gave her and then stepped off to the side. After a couple moments reading, Oonuki turned to the boy. "Roshi says you've received regeneration from the Kyuubi."<p>

"Yeah and then he said he had to test it and hit me with a kunai. Annoying old fart." Naruto muttered Oonuki and Kurotsuchi chuckled but asked for a demonstration themselves. Not wanting to get stabbed again, Naruto pulled a kunai out and cut his hand before holding it up for them to see. Like before, the wound had a small bit of steam coming out of it as it closed up before their eyes. Afterwards, Oonuki asked him to draw on a bit of Kyuubi's power to show them what changes he gained. He did so and both nodded at seeing the changes in person. Kurotsuchi also commented that it made him look wilder, like some feral animal.

"Alright then, I think that's all I needed to see. Naruto, it has been decided that Kurotsuchi will continue your training here in the village and that one a year you will spend a month with Roshi working on your control over Kyuubi." Oonuki explained to the blond. The child nodded his understanding and was perfectly fine with it. "Also, once you're eight years old, you will be heading into the academy to learn with other children your age." Naruto nodded before the reality hit him and he gaped at the old man.

"But why? I mean, Kaa-chan told me I'm at genin level in lots of stuff already! Why do I have to go to the academy like the other kids?"

"Because she can't teach you everything. And because I will need her to start taking up the higher missions again. While it's true in some subjects you are far ahead of your generation, in others you are woefully behind them. And rather than hire private tutors to fix those areas, you will go to the academy and learn about them with the other kids." The Tsuchikage ordered. Naruto just slumped his shoulders but nodded his head. Kurotsuchi took this moment to speak up herself.

"Besides Naruto-kun, this will give you the opportunity to make some friends. And you'll get to show off to everybody. We know how you love attention." She commented with a grin. The boy seemed to brighten a bit at that.

* * *

><p>The next year was simple for Naruto, but still somewhat difficult. They decided that he'd spend April with Roshi so Kurotsuchi spent the first three months pounding him into the ground with more physical training. Since they discovered the regeneration from Kyuubi, Kurotsuchi didn't have to bother holding back with his weights. As such, she packed them on as heavy as he could handle and had him exercise. Then once he got used to them to the point that he didn't feel them, he'd spend two days without them to get used to his body's true power before she'd throw on weights that were usually double what he just finished training with. By the time April came around he was glad to be leaving the village as she couldn't up his weights the moment he got used to them.<p>

Roshi was fine with having Naruto for another month and spent the time having him practice meditating as well as sparing with him to help his fighting style. He also had him once a week draw as much chakra from Kyuubi as he could and then spar with him. This gave Naruto more conditioning to the demonic chakra, let him get used to the enhancements the bijuu's power gave him, and like a regular spar just helped him get better. Roshi never bothered him about his weights as he didn't care. After he was told the Kurotsuchi was being a devil with upping them all the time the old man had a long laugh and promised him that he wouldn't push him about them or anything other than the training he was already doing with him. Naruto also came to see Roshi as an uncle of sorts, seeing as both were jinchuriki and the old man had a calm, knowing air about him from his experience in the wars.

When Naruto returned to Iwa, Kurotsuchi would once more up his weights and start training him more. She would also keep teaching him things ninja needed to know. His tactics weren't very good still, and he still couldn't beat Akatsuchi in shogi, but he was improving. Naruto also spent the time speaking with Kyuubi. For the most part the fox didn't care. It would laugh at his torturous training and how his 'Kaa-chan' would punish him whenever he cursed in front of her. The fox also took any opportunity to mock the boy's intelligence and belittle him. But at other times the fox just seemed to be the wise teacher that had lost interest in everything else. Naruto learned that while the fox hated humanity, it never wanted to attack Konoha in the first place. It just wanted to be left alone when a certain man came and placed it under a genjutsu and forced it to attack. Naruto did his best to keep the fox happy, feeling that it would possibly lighten up on the taunting (not a chance but Kyuubi wouldn't say it) and that it might be easier to use its chakra if they were friendly with each other. Which was true but Kyuubi didn't say it cause he just felt like insulting the boy anytime he could.

Naruto's life became very routine. Wake up and eat breakfast. Then train his body with the basic warm-ups before Kurotsuchi would start training him in the katas of the style chosen for him as well as giving him practice dodging by launching blunted kunai at him. A few times she would mix in real kunai or senbon to keep him on his toes and make sure he wouldn't just start talking hits because he could heal from them. After physical training would be lunch before she'd spend the afternoon training his mind in various things. Then dinner followed by some light workouts and finally sleep. The only differences were important festivals, birthdays, or the month he was with Roshi.

Kitsuchi was still indifferent to the boy his daughter was raising. He didn't like his heritage and openly admitted that if Oonuki didn't order it he would've killed the boy. But other than that he put up with him and occasionally helped him with his training. Mainly the dodging training because it gave him an excuse to cause him pain without repercussion. The man understood he was being raised to take out his birthplace and found it poetic justice, but he still took any chance he got to hit the kid. Though he wouldn't do anything when Kurotsuchi was around because he could tell his daughter genuinely cared for the boy. Had they met under other circumstances, she would've wanted to kill him just like any other Iwa nin would. However she raised him, and as such cared for him.

Akatsuchi would stop by every once in a while to help out. The giant of a man was close to Naruto because of his childish nature and gentle persona. He would test his own strength against Naruto to see how the boy was coming along and found that the boy was actually closing the gap as time went on, physically gaining on the giant. Naruto was faster, that was a given, but what was surprising was that Akatsuchi was actually starting to put forth a little effort to out muscle Naruto. Granted he was still holding back quite a bit, never using more than ten to fifteen percent of his strength, but for a young child not even in the academy to match even that much of the giant was impressive.

And then came Deidara. Naruto truly felt the elder blonde was an older brother to him. Naruto spent his time with his 'nii-san' training his speed and also his stealth. The two actually started a few small pranks in the village, usually involving absurd amounts of paint and flash bombs. And sadly, only about a tenth of the time were they even caught. Naruto's stealth skills shot through the roof while Kurotsuchi would shove him into the ground with training as punishment. Deidara would simply laugh and then use his claw birds to escape anytime they tried to punish him for the pranks. They were harmless and everybody knew it. It was just getting pranked by the annoying blondes of the village pissed many of the older generation off as it was slightly reminding them of their embarrassment at the hands of the 'bastard flash'. It was even worse because it was the son of said bastard doing the pranks.

Finally came the day Naruto would join the academy. He was wearing a black shirt with the Iwa symbol in red on his back along with some blue shorts and black shinobi sandals. On his wrists were weighted orange wristbands. While he wasn't going to be wearing the heavy arm and leg weights he did when training with Kurotsuchi, she wasn't going to let the boy go without weights at all. Concealed in his sandals were weights as well, having Naruto carry two hundred pounds grand total. But he barely noticed and Kurotsuchi promised him she wouldn't up his weights again until he became a genin. As Naruto entered the building he saw that people had mixed reactions to him. Most of the adults were staring at him either with hatred or sadistic grins. Hate because of his father, grins because they knew what he was being raised for. And the children's' reactions were mixed as well. Some with hate because their parents told them who he was, some of the girls with small grins because he looked kind of cute, but mostly with indifference as he was just another student like them. As Naruto looked around the class he was placed in he sighed. And then groaned when the teacher glared at him with obvious hate. It was going to be a long four years.

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><p>And thus, Arc One is finished. I know it was short but that's mainly because I wanted to mostly introduce how Naruto and the others react to each other and set the stage for the true story which is about to start. Next Arc is about his time as a Genin and will be longer because it will not only cover him and his team but it will cover what's been happening with Konoha since he's been gone.<p>

So review favorite and pray for a good battle between Naruto and Bee against Itachi and Nagato next week in the manga!


	6. Arc 2 Chapter 1

**bakapervert:** depends on what fight you want to see. Naruto vs. Sasuke was epic as all hell. Sasuke vs. Itachi was as well. Same with Naruto vs. Pain and then recently Sasuke vs. Danzo. If you want to know which episodes have the good fights, just first look up which fights you want to see and then find them in a list of the anime's episodes on Narutopedia

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz<span>

**Chapter One –** Teams

Naruto sighed as he waited in class for his sensei. He had just graduated, along with most of the other kids his age, yesterday and today they were being sorted into teams and then shipped off to be ninja of Iwa. He was wearing a dark orange shirt with a black long sleeve jacket over it. He also had on black pants and dark blue shinobi sandals. Tied to his right leg was a blood red kunai holster and his Iwa headband was around his forehead with a cloth of the same color. On his wrists were special bracers made for him on his last birthday two months ago. They were black with red inlay and shaped like a foxes head, his hands coming out of the 'mouths' of the items. They had a special feature to them as well which let them be used in battle for more than deflecting projectiles.

Naruto's four years at the academy were extremely easy in all but three subjects; genjutsu, tactics and history. His genjutsu was average in that he could dispel any illusion up to B-rank without difficulty but couldn't cast one for his life. He also didn't care for the past saying he would burn his and the rest didn't matter. He barely paid attention to those lessons. And as for tactics, well in small scale or short term plans he did about as good as the other students. But large scale and long term plans were beyond his reach. It didn't help that it was only last year when he finally started beating Akatsuchi in shogi, and even then he had an incredibly difficult time in doing so. He was more of an action person anyways.

The teachers of the academy clearly hated him. However none of them would dare to cripple his education because due to their fear of the Tsuchikage. So they tried to take out their hate during the physical sparing lessons by going all out when they were supposed to be holding back. Sadly they discovered that Naruto was in top physical condition and beat all the chunin that tried to hurt him into the ground before walking away muttering that they were a good workout. As such, they were extremely happy he wasn't the rookie of the year, if their hated enemies son had shown them all up then some of Iwa would've been extremely pissed. His horrible history and tactics grades dragging him into the number two spot. Not that he cared. To him the academy was just a way to teach him some basic jutsu and pair him with people that would hopefully be around his skill level. He learned the Henge (Transformation) and Kawarimi (Body Replacement) jutsus with ease but his high chakra and low control prevented him from doing a Bunshin. (Clone) Unlike Konoha, the academy in Iwa didn't determine a persons passing grade simply on three basic jutsu but on their compounded abilities in all subjects they were taught. As such, Naruto's inability to make basic clones aided in keeping him out of the top spot but couldn't hold him back.

"Alright class, it's time for you to shut up and get ready to go out and be ninja for our great village." A man said as he walked in. He was bald and had green eyes while wearing the standard chunin outfit of Iwa. (Think the same as Konoha's but with a tan vest and red clothes rather than green and blue.) "Now, as you know you are going to be sorted into teams and placed under a jonin who will train you and make you into great ninjas of Iwa. So listen up for your name. Team one is…" He spoke. Naruto just stopped paying attention at that point waiting for his name to be called. The man sorted the top rookie and top kunoichi with the bottom male and then sorted the rest due to their grades and personalities. Finally he stopped and set the clipboard down. Naruto noticed his name was never called.

"Oi! Dickless-sensei! You didn't call me you stupid fuck! You trying to piss of the Tsuchikage by holding me back?" Naruto shouted at the man. This got half the class to laugh at the man and the other half to mutter that Naruto was a stuck up ass.

"Listen brat, just cause Tsuchikage-sama puts up with your shit doesn't mean I have to." He replied. Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah you do. Cause otherwise the old man will turn your ass to dust. Not that I couldn't kick it myself. Now what team am I on bitch?" Naruto shot back. During his four years he had developed a mean streak and an attitude to deal with the asses that hated him because of his father. Kyuubi would frequently comment he liked the new Naruto, claiming he was the cynical and sadistic little brother he never wanted. To which Naruto would respond 'Shut the hell up you demonic furry before I cut off our deal and just steal your chakra you ass.' Which would only make Kyuubi break out laughing anyways. The two had actually grown close, somewhat, in the four years. They were definitely more than cordial and some would even say friends if they knew of the relationship in the first place. Sure all of Iwa knew he had Kyuubi in him, nobody knew he would frequently talk to the beast like one would and annoying older brother.

"Due to there not being enough graduates to make enough teams of three, you and Hanamaru Hikari are being placed under a jonin sensei and will be joined by another student that lost his last team on a mission." The chunin told him in a dark voice filled with hate, even flashing his killing intent, getting the weaker kids to flinch. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, Kyuubi and Oonuki blasted him with worse in their sleep. No literally, Kyuubi actually had once blasted Naruto with its killer intent while sleeping, only to wake up to a very pissed off blonde boy ranting how his stupid furred ass had caused him to lose his focus and nearly give Deidara a new mouth for his clay. "The two of you are to go to training ground 36 in two hours to meet your teammate and sensei. The rest of you are to come back here in an hour for your sensei's to pick you up. Now beat it!" He shouted, causing a few students to rush out of the room. Naruto just scoffed at the man's tough act and casually got up and left the room, waiting outside the door for his teammate.

"So, I'm with you huh Naruto? Well I could've done worse." She muttered as she walked out of the class and saw Naruto standing off to the side waiting for her. Hanamaru Hikari was something of an oddity to Naruto. After going through the Sex Ed lessons in the academy, he had actually paid some slight attention to the girls of the academy to see what they thought of him. Half seemed to hate him for his father, probably because either their parents hated him or because their parents didn't exist because of the Flash. The other half seemed to think he was cute, hot, or sexy depending on whom you asked. But then there were three girls that didn't show any interest in him at all, neither hating nor fawning towards him, one of them was Hikari. Naruto had, during teamwork exercises, asked them what they thought of him. Getting exiled from his home for being hated and then having Iwa split down the middle with hate or sadistic glee towards him had made him slightly care as to what people thought of him. Or at least, knowing what people thought of him. He wasn't going to change what he was to get someone to like him, he just wanted to know what you thought so he would know whether to ignore you or not. Fan girls and haters he ignored or mocked on a frequent basis.

Two of the girls he asked freely admitted that they were lesbians, and as such simply saw him as a future powerful addition to Iwa's ninja ranks and nothing more. Naruto respected that (and thought it was hot) and didn't bother them anymore. Hikari on the other hand, he didn't know what to make of her. When he asked what she thought of him her response was quick, dark and somewhat confusing to him. _'I just don't care about you. I'm too busy showing up the sexist pigs in my family to bother with some blond bastard that beats up the instructors with a smile. By the way, next time you do that could you kick Kashimaru-sensei in the nuts for me? I swear that bastard is leering at me and he's twice my age!'_ She seemed to not care about him, be impressed with him, and friendly with him enough to ask him for a favor; all at the same time and to Naruto's pre-teen mind, it was a little too much for him to understand.

As such, the girl was an oddity that he wanted to try and figure out without actually trying. A walking contradiction if there was one but he ignored such trifles like logic in favor of doing whatever the hell he wanted.

"Yeah, same here. So, you wanna get some lunch before we go to the grounds and meet our sensei and third teammate?" Naruto offered. She just shrugged her shoulders and then followed him as they left the academy. As they walked, Naruto snuck a glance at the girl to see if she made any changes to her wardrobe since graduating, which she hadn't apparently. Hikari had dark purple hair that went down to about the middle of her neck, save for a small white lock that went from the center of her forehead and curved around her left eye. Around her forehead was her Iwa headband, tied with white cloth. She wore a black shirt with cuts at the shoulders, revealing some skin, while the sleeves of her outfit were large and went down to her fingertips, allowing her to hide her hands in them as she wished. She also had on a black short skirt with some red spandex shorts on underneath them. Completing her look were the white shin guards and black shinobi sandals as well as the red equipment pouch at her hip. "So, any preference or would you eat anything right now?"

"Shrimp since you're offering." She replied. The two headed to the local sea-food restaurant that had small lines and good food. They ordered and spent their time simply talking about who they suspected to be their sensei or what happened to their teammate since he lost his team on his last mission.

* * *

><p>The two walked into the training grounds and looked around to see what it was like. The area was mainly bare, a couple trees here or there. A few large boulders and a small stream to complete the area. It really didn't have much to set it apart. The two walked towards the center of the area where they found a teen sitting on the largest boulder and staring at the sky. As they got near he lowered his head and looked at them before nodding his head as a greeting before going back to staring at the sky. Naruto and Hikari waited for a moment before Naruto spoke up. "You mind coming down here so we can actually introduce ourselves or do I have to shatter this rock you find so comfortable?" The boy looked at him again, specifically his eyes, to see if he was serious, which after a couple seconds deduced he was. The boy stood up and then jumped down, landing in front of them as if a twelve foot drop was nothing. Which to most ninja it wasn't but that's beside the point.<p>

The boy had short, pure black hair that was spiked up along with gray eyes. There was a small scar running above his right eye that curved around it slightly. For clothes he wore a gray short sleeve muscle shirt with a black cargo vest over it worn open. He also had black cargo pants and black boots rather than the common sandals that ninja found so popular. His hands were in fingerless black gloves and he didn't have an equipment pouch anywhere on him from what they could see. Finally after a few seconds of silence where they seemed to be sizing each other up he spoke, his voice a monotone that hid any thoughts or emotions he might have had towards them. "My name is Kurai. I've been a genin for three years and am fifteen years old. My skills are mainly taijutsu with my weapon _Soul Reaver_. I am a fire element and do not use any of the standard ninja tools as they are useless to me."

Naruto and Hikari stared at him for a moment as they weren't expecting so much info. They were expecting a name, maybe age, but not a small breakdown of his skills as well. They were also curious now about this weapon, seeing as he didn't carry anything on him. Naruto just shrugged and was about to speak when they heard a small noise behind them and they looked to see their sensei walking up. "Oh good, you're all here. Then we can get started." For his part Naruto just stood gaping and pointing at the jonin.

"No fucking way. You're our sensei? I call bullshit on Oji-sama." He was then quickly kicked into the boulder Kurai had been sitting on.

"What have I told you about cursing in front of me Naruto-kun?"

"Oi! I'm legally an adult now so I can do whatever the _fuck_ I want Kaa-chan!" Naruto shouted as he pulled himself out of the rock and glared at the woman who was scowling at him. Kurai looked between the two before seemingly accepting it and waiting for Kurotsuchi to tell them to do something while Hikari seemed confused.

"Wait a minute, Kaa-chan? You're his mother? What the hell? I thought jonin couldn't take teams with family members on them!" She shouted. Naruto ignored the girl, instead preferring to glare at their sensei while the woman sighed and looked over to Hikari.

"Hanamaru Hikari right?" She asked, getting a nod in confirmation. "Normally that's the case. However there are two things different about this. One is that he's not really my son, he's technically adopted into my family and I just happened to take care of and raise the idiot. And two is that this team is special. Tsuchikage-sama has plans for these two and wanted me to watch over them since he knows I can get them to where he wants them." She explained.

"So I'm just some filler getting dragged along for the ride huh?" Hikari shouted. Kurotsuchi smiled but shook her head.

"If you want to look at it like that then go ahead but that's not true. I personally chose you out of the other graduates because I think your skills and clan techniques can and will mesh nicely with these two better than anybody else." The girl still seemed unsure but Kurotsuchi could tell she as willing to go along with it for the moment so she turned back to Naruto. "And you, while were with the team or on a mission its sensei. Not Kaa-chan, got it?" She asked, lacing her words with killing intent. Now unlike the chunin failure of a teacher, she could actually threaten him so he quickly nodded his understanding and walked back up to the others while dropping his glare. "Alright then, for the two of you that don't know me, my name is Kurotsuchi. I'm the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, this brats' adoptive mother and your new sensei. I enjoy spending time with my family, cooking and a certain other jonin." She paused at this lacing a death filled glare at Naruto, daring him to make a comment about it. Wisely, he got the message and stayed quiet. "I don't like being looked down on or being forced to do things I don't want to do. My goal is simple; to one day have some kids of my own as well as help you three achieve your goals. Now you." She said as she point to Hikari.

"My name is Hanamaru Hikari and I'm the heiress to the Hanamaru clan. I like seafood, flowers and cats. I hate most of my family and people who look down on Kunoichi's. Sexist bastards." She muttered before shaking her head and continuing. "My dream is to take over my clan and bring us to dominance in Iwa as their top clan. I also want to change a few of the customs that just piss me off to spite the clan elders." Hikari concluded with a slight grin. Kurotsuchi smirked and then turned to Kurai.

"My name is Kurai, no family name that I know of. I like Iwa and dislike any threat to it. My goal is to simply become a powerful ninja in Iwa's ranks so that I can help us rise to the top of the Five Great Village's." He spoke quickly, politely, and in a never changing monotone that made Naruto wonder if the kid wasn't some statue Akatsuchi brought to life. After waiting a moment and seeing Kurotsuchi looking at him Naruto started.

"The name's Namikaze Naruto, jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko and son of Iwa's greatest enemy. I like ramen, fighting and spending time with my nii-san Deidara. I don't like Konoha and I hate people who judge or hate others for things out of their control. My dream is to raze Konoha to the ground, kill a certain man for Kyuubi, and then to become the greatest ninja in Iwa's history." Naruto spoke with confidence, Kurai and Hikari could tell that he wouldn't rest until he truly completed those goals for himself. They were slightly curious as to who this man Kyuubi wanted dead was but otherwise accepted his introduction without comment. Kurotsuchi nodded and then cleared her throat to make sure attention was on her.

"Good, now that we've gotten that taken care of we can start. First off I want to have some training and spars with the three of you to fully get where you all are and what I can do to further you all along. And yes Naruto-kun, despite the fact I already know your skills you still have to do them to show your teammates. It'll make you a more effective unit if you know what each other can do." She added on as Naruto opened his mouth to say she knew his already. Seeing that he stayed silent and had an understanding look on his face, the new sensei smirked. It was time to get to work.

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><p>Not many reviews this time but that was expected honestly, I didn't give much that would be confusing enough for a question and stuff. I made my intentions clear for the upcoming arc so to be honest, anything outside of the pairing speculations or plot questions would've been surprising. If anything I'm just surprised that I didn't even get those questions.<p>

Anyways, now Naruto is on a team and will be actively working towards Iwa's goals and his own. His teammates are OCs and will be fleshed out more as the story goes on. I've already hinted at a family matter of Hikari's and at Kurai's skills. Also, Hikari means light and Kurai means dark. Yes that was intentional and will play into things later on. So until then, review and favorite.

**PS:** I have a challenge on my profile for anybody who's interested. It's a different spin on the Naruto raised by an Akatsuki member storyline. Check it out.


	7. Arc 2 Chapter 2

**Luiz4200:** Oh he will. That's Arc 3. And personally I feel my Chunin Exam arc is going to be the most badass Arc of my story before I reach the Shippuden years. You guys will have to tell me if you agree or not when I reach it. And Konoha's reaction to Naruto will likely be a surprise to many of you.

**roboguy45:** I've already pointed out he will not be learning Jinton (Dust Release)

**dbtiger63: **Look above for Dust. As for flying, that depends. I'm waiting to see if the manga reveals if Oonuki's flying technique is a dust jutsu or not first. If it's a dust jutsu then he will not learn it. If it's a wind jutsu or a non-element jutsu then he will. That simple. And as for his strengths, weaknesses and all that; I tell a little bit in this chapter but you'll have to wait for the rest.

**Rixxel Stryfe:** Thanks for pointing out the error in the Iwa uniforms for me. I was thinking about how I have Hikari designed at the time and just typed up white without realizing it. I've gone back and changed it though so no worries. Also, who or what is Flame of Recca? I've never heard of it so I can't say your right or wrong. I will say I did base Kurai off a couple characters. Personality wise he's partially based off a character from another series and mixed with my own ideas while ability wise he's based off what I feel a certain character should've been rather than what he was. And when the two actually meet, things will get heated.

A few of you are assuming NaruOC now and I'll tell you; yes. I would've admitted the pairing here as soon as someone guessed it but nobody ever seems to guess an OC until you actually bring said characters in. But anyways, yes Hikari is the girl I'm putting Naruto with. I wanted to try putting Naruto with an OC in one of my stories and after planning this one out I just couldn't figure out how to make any other pairing work unless I gave him a pseudo-'mother complex' and put him with Kurotsuchi. But since I wanted her with Deidara in this story I decided to instead make an OC. As already shown she doesn't seem to have feelings for him yet and he just finds her interesting but doesn't see her in a romantic light. This will change over time and the two will get together. I'm not changing this and it will not be a harem story with my OC as a part of it. It's just NaruOC and that's final.

Now onto the chapter.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz<span>

**Chapter Two –** Missions

Kurotsuchi was honestly enjoying herself as a sensei. She got to spend time within the village more often, take care of easy missions that might as well be paid vacations from her normal A rank work, and mold the next generation to her liking. While Naruto would still throw up his attitude occasionally and Kurai seemed to lack one entirely, Hikari was a nice balance to the two and things were kept within reasonable comfort and enjoyment. It also helped that she shared Hikari's sentiment of proving that Kunoichi are just as, if not better, than their male counterparts.

The team was walking back into the village after a simple C rank escort mission to Kaminari no Kuni. Unlike Konoha, Iwa had the students in their last year at the Academy perform D rank missions. This was to get the used to the idea of working with others on missions. They didn't value teamwork as much as the tree huggers did, but they understood that it was either work together or you all fail. As such, new genin only really performed D ranks for a couple weeks after becoming ninja or as punishments from their sensei. It was highly embarrassing for a team of more than three months to be walking dogs or cleaning the streets.

The escort mission they had was to guard a merchant on his way to Kumo and then guard him and his caravan on the way back. Since Kumo and Iwa had a shaky alliance, they could do the mission in their lands without incident. Her students also got to see what another hidden village looked like, having been to Kumo herself with her grandfather the Tsuchikage. For the most part her students didn't seem to care though they were surprised to see that unlike the rest of the world, most of Kumo was dark skinned and there were fewer with the light complexion that they thought was normal. She did have a slight scare though when on the first night, Naruto told her that Kyuubi felt other demonic entities nearby. So she was forced to explain that Kumo had two jinchuriki of their own, the Nibi and Hachibi, and that they were the ones Kyuubi had sensed. She had ordered him to not seek them out and should he be confronted he was to be polite and refuse to speak and get her as quickly as possible. Yes, Iwa and Kumo were allies. But under the Sandaime Raikage, Kumo had orchestrated many kidnappings of ninja with Kekkei Genkai and even tried a couple on the younger jinchuriki. They didn't know, and weren't willing to risk, if the new Yondaime did the same.

Kurotsuchi banished the thoughts from her head though as she and her team left the man at his shop to go report a mission success. It was only a month since she had been a sensei and her team had grown stronger. Kurai had shown his skill and experience right away and currently she was the only one that could honestly match and beat him. Naruto was close and Hikari could give him a good run for his money but Kurai was still stronger than the two. Naruto though was the fastest, out running even her when they did races for speed training. Kurai and Hikari were both quite fast and could keep up with her if they exhausted themselves but she was still faster and made it difficult for them. But stealth was where Hikari shined. Anytime the boy's lost sight of her they'd find her with a blade to their neck. They couldn't find her unless she wanted to be found and Kurotsuchi actually had to try to find the girl as well.

And as for jutsu, she couldn't help two of her students and could only help her third. Kurai, as he had told them, was a fire element. However all his jutsu involve his weapon and he didn't need any help in that department anyways. Naruto turned out to be a wind affinity so she couldn't do much more than point him to Oonuki, who with his Kekkei Tota was a fire, earth _and_ wind affinity. Hikari though turned out to be an earth affinity, which she informed them was common in her family as most were earth or water affinities. Though usually it was the men in the family with earth while the women had water. Still with one of her students sharing her affinity and needing help with it, Kurotsuchi did her best to train Hikari in the subtleties of Doton jutsu.

Walking into the Tsuchikage's office she smiled at her grandfather and gave a nod to Akatsuchi who was standing behind him like usual. While Akatsuchi was smart, he was slightly slower and more childish than a man in his late twenties, early thirties should be. As such, the Tsuchikage gave him an easy job; to be his personal guard. It had the added effect of an intimidation factor as the young man towered over just about everyone alive. Combine that with the fact that Oonuki himself was feared for his Jinton techniques and any non Iwa ninja, and some of the more cowardly members of their own forces, were hard pressed to keep their cool and confidence. "Team thirteen back from our C rank Tsuchikage-sama." She announced as they stopped and she handed the old man the mission scroll.

"Good." Oonuki stated as he took the scroll and after making sure it had the clients signature to verify completion, looked over the students. "So how did you three enjoy Kumo?"

"The place sucks ass, Tsuchikage-oji-sama. Iwa is ten times better." Naruto remarked casually. Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes at the boy's blunt attitude but said nothing since she was of the same opinion. Kurai was silent and made no motion towards feeling anything towards their ally while Hikari just grinned.

"They had some good calamari though. Gotta admit that much." Much like how Naruto, to Kurotsuchi's horror and disgust at times, was addicted to ramen; Hikari couldn't get enough of seafood. She'd have some kind of fish, squid, crab or ocean food every single chance she got. It wasn't much of a problem since she made sure to include other foods in her meal plan and get enough of everything for a balanced meal, but seafood still made up a good half or so of all her diet. "I'll get some more next time we visit."

"That's fine; I'm quite partial to their sake myself." Oonuki commented. "Did anything I should know about happen on the mission or was it the standard fare?" he asked as he turned his attention to his granddaughter.

"Naruto told me Kyuubi sensed Kumo's jinchuriki so I had to warn him to be cautious and find me should he be alone and confronted by them but otherwise nothing." Oonuki looked at Naruto who just shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent look on his face.

"That's fine. You're all dismissed then. Come back for another mission in a couple days." The three kids gave a short bow and then left while Kurotsuchi simply had a quick word with Akatsuchi before leaving herself. As she exited the building she found her students waiting for her.

"Okay you three, go home and rest up or whatever. Just meet at the training grounds tomorrow morning at nine." They nodded as she then vanished in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) for whatever she was going to do. Kurai said his goodbye's and left for his apartment. It always seemed to go that way. After training or missions, Kurai would simply go off to be on his own. He was always polite and kind, but his monotone voice and constant blank face made it seem like he just didn't care for anything. More than once Naruto had joked that he was just a moving statue and tried to agitate him and provoke an emotional response just to fail every time. The boy had no feelings or worries it seemed.

"Well, I'm off for some ramen before I go home." Naruto said as he started walking off. Not surprisingly Hikari shrugged her shoulders and just started to walk with him. Usually after Kurai would split for his own devices, Hikari or Naruto would mention going to get something to eat and the other would just go with out of boredom. Hikari spent as much time as she could get away with as far from her clan compound as possible since she hated a good ninety percent of the members while Naruto just didn't really care and figured spending time with a teammate was better than wandering the village alone. The two walked in a comfortable silence until they came up to a small eatery. The owner was a man that used to hate Naruto, since his brother had been a ninja killed by the Flash. But since the boy had become a regular that literally filled his wallet every visit, he'd tolerate the boy. And over the years he stopped hating him for his father's actions.

"Hey Naruto, back from your mission huh? You having the usual?" He called out as he and Hikari sat down at a booth. The man came over to talk for a moment as the shop was having a slow day. He was bald and had multiple wrinkles on his face but they only seemed to draw attention to his contrasting bright green eyes. He wore a simple brown kimono top and black pants.

"Yep, easy deal to. Thanks Kenji."

"And what about you Hikari?" The girl stopped in with Naruto a lot over the past month so he had gotten to know the Hanamaru heiress a little better as well. "Shrimp like always?" He joked, knowing she likely would get that very meal.

"You know it. Thanks." She replied with a simple grin he just chuckled and walked back to the kitchen to get started on their orders. As he left Naruto and Hikari just turned to each other.

"So anything new with the asses back home?" Naruto asked. He called her family a bunch of asses for two reasons. One was she did so she obviously didn't care. And the other was because they were staunch 'Namikaze Haters' and wanted to stick a knife between his eyes every time they looked at him.

"The usual. I suck compared to my male cousins, I should kill you on one of our missions and make it look like an accident, and I should learn how to actually fight. Nothin' new from them." She replied. Naruto just scoffed.

"Yeah right, if you need to learn how to fight then I need to learn how to run. You kick ass as it is and they're just pissed cause you won't kill me. They really hate that we're friends don't they."

"That's half the reason I keep hanging out with you Naruto. They hate me, I hate them; and it's fun as hell to do exactly what pisses them off." Hikari responded cheekily. Naruto just chuckled. She had told him after following him for food the third time that besides actually getting food cause she was hungry, she also hung out with him more than needed because it pissed her clan off that their heiress was close to the Flash's bastard son. They hated the Flash because in the battle where he slaughtered over two hundred men single-handedly, they lost over twenty members. And now their heiress was on the same team as him and she refused to kill him in his sleep. Rather she was friends with him! It was the ultimate insult to them and Hikari knew it. And when she told Naruto they shared a good laugh at their frustration. "Anything up with sensei or Tsuchikage-sama?"

"Not with Oji-sama that I know of. But I'm pretty sure Kaa-chan is gonna be looking for excuses to stay in the village soon. I mean, Dei-nii-san should be getting back soon from his mission if not already." During one of their after mission/training meals, Naruto had told Hikari of how Kurotsuchi seemed to be seeing Deidara in secret. In fact it was so secret, that even Oonuki didn't know. The only reason Naruto did was because he had accidentally come across them making out on three different occasions over the course of two years before he started the Academy and they always threatened him to keep silent about it. At first he didn't get it, but after the school taught Sex Ed, it all fell into place for him. He was just happy he hadn't actually come across them in the act. He didn't think his mind would be able to take seeing his mother figure and brother figure going at it.

Their thoughts and conversation were put on hold as their meals came out. Like he normally did, Naruto had five bowls placed in front of him of various flavors and was told the other ten would be coming out soon. Hikari only had a single bowl of shrimp ramen and started eating at a slow pace as Naruto practically inhaled his food with a smile.

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><p>Unknown to them, watching from the other side of the street was Kurotsuchi and Deidara. "See Kuro-chan? You didn't believe me when I said the gaki has a girlfriend." Deidara taunted with a grin. Kurotsuchi scoffed as they watched.<p>

"Please, she hasn't shown any interest in him and he doesn't care either. She's just using him to get away from her clan duties and he just likes the company. Nothing romantic at all." She argued back. They hadn't shown any romantic interest in each other at all during their team meetings so she was hard pressed to believe there was any like Deidara argued. There hadn't even been any hintings of a blush when they put the other in compromising situations during spars and training. The two didn't have any 'feelings' for each other as far as she could tell.

"So you say but I can just tell those two are gonna start makin' out one of these days. You just can't see it like I can un." Kurotsuchi deadpanned at him as he had a slight grin.

"And what makes you so damn sure that I'm wrong and you're right?"

"Well considering you didn't even notice I was flirting with you until we got drunk at that one party four years ago and I kissed you, I'd say you're clueless about this sort of thing un. Just trust me will ya? They'll be getting together soon or I'll proclaim I'm wrong about art being an explosion to all of Iwa. No matter how wrong that opinion is un." He then shook his head and started walking away. "But that's for another time un. Now come on, I thought you wanted to see that new Princess Gale movie." Deidara had to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep and gone to dream land as he suddenly found himself in front of the theater with Kurotsuchi holding onto his arm.

"Well come on then! You're paying!"

"Of course I am un."

* * *

><p>"Alright you three, we've going to get another mission today rather than training so let's all get going." It had been a week and a half since they returned from Kumo and the team had met at the training grounds like they normally did every morning. It was the same training ground they had met in since becoming a team and the act had become routine to them. Kurai would usually be first, sitting on the large rock at the middle of the grounds, staring at the sky as he waited for the others. Then would usually be Hikari, coming in a few minutes after he did and she'd just sit down and wait with her eyes closed. And finally Naruto and Kurotsuchi would show up at the same time since they lived together. Then would come training or a mission, depending on the day. Today was a mission apparently.<p>

A few minutes later and the team was standing in front of the Tsuchikage as he went over some paperwork. He looked up as they entered and gave a grin. "Here for another mission already? I figured you'd wait the rest of the week first."

"These three work well together and I don't really have much I need to truly teach them. All they really need is experience and to strengthen their basics and they'll be ready for Chunin in no time at all. So, got anything for us?" She explained with a smirk. While the Genin made no indication to care for her words, Hikari and Naruto were inwardly smiling at how she felt they were pretty much ready for Chunin so quickly. Kurai was emotionless and couldn't care less one way or the other, like usual. His teammates still hadn't found out why he was like that.

"Alright, take this one. There's a group of bandits harassing people near our border with Ame. Kill them or chase them into Ame's territory so we don't have to worry about them. Do not cross into Ame's territory yourself. Start searching for them by the town of Kisai, that's where we received the last complaints about them." Oonuki gave out the details as he pulled out a scroll with the official mission specifics written on it and tossed it to Kurotsuchi. She gave it a quick glance and noticed it was pretty much what Oonuki had just told them, only worded differently. She nodded and then turned her attention back to her students.

"Okay you three, gather what's needed and be at the south gate in an hour." They all nodded and left to get their supplies and Kurotsuchi left in a Shunshin. Oonuki turned back to his paperwork and read over a few things and signed what was needed before a certain form caught his eye.

"Oh? The leader of Otogakure is requesting a meeting? Hm… let's see how this goes."

* * *

><p>"Another mission Hikari-sama?" Hikari had headed back to her clan compound, which was conveniently on the edge of Iwa near the south gate, to get her supplies. She paused as the voice called out to her and turned around to see the only person in her clan she hated more than her own father.<p>

"What the hell do you want Yamai?" Yamai was a young boy a year younger than her that was the son of the clan head's brother. He had black hair that was slicked back and cut off just above his neck. He had dark black eyes and wore a red kimono top with black trim as well as black hakama with red tribal designs running down the sides. On his feet were the basic shinobi sandals colored black while around his left wrist was a small black gauntlet baring the Hanamaru clan crest; a red rose with a silver stem.

"Just curious as to what our heiress is going to be doing Hikari-sama." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and Hikari knew it. In fact Yamai didn't even bother trying to hide it. "You know, Daisuke-sama is disappointed in you."

"I don't give a shit if Tou-san were to come here himself and tell me that. You're just waiting for your chance to take me out so you can be the heir and since you can't do it in a straight up fight you're hoping I'll die on a mission." Seeing him grit his teeth brought a smirk to Hikari's face. "Oh, did I touch a sore spot weakling?"

"Listen here, by our clan's traditions I should be heir! Not a weak little girl like you!" He shouted. The Hanamaru clan was extremely old fashioned in that they still treated women like they were inferior and as such the clan head was supposed to have a male heir. However his wife had produced Hikari before dying from the childbirth. Normally this would get them to just have the head have another wife and hopefully get them to produce a male. But another tradition of theirs was that they can only marry once, and none of them would break this rule. As such, when the head's brother managed to have a male child he was to become the heir if he proved stronger than Hikari. Yamai had been training his entire life to take over the clan as most felt the clan couldn't be led by a weak woman. However Hikari had defeated her cousin in every contest they tried to put her in. She was smarter, faster, stronger, and had a better mastery over their clan techniques than he did and she frequently rubbed his face in it since he refused to admit he was weaker than a girl.

"If I'm weak, then what are you? In case you still haven't learned it yet, you haven't beaten me. Ever. In fact, you haven't even come close." She taunted, getting him to flush red in anger. "Now go away Yamai, I have a mission to prepare for." She said as she turned and started walking away calmly, having nothing more to say to her weaker cousin. The boy was seething at her common dismissal and was about to throw himself at her to kill her but a sudden spike of killing intent froze him where he stood.

"What's going on here?" Both turned to see a man in a formal black kimono with the Hanamaru crest on the right side of his chest walking up. He had black hair that was thinning slightly and a scar that went across his forehead, a memento from a Konoha ninja he fought in the war. He turned his steel gray eyes on Yamai before locking them with Hikari's own gray eyes.

"I have a mission to prepare for when Yamai came and started spouting shit like usual. When I dismissed him to gather my supplies, you came up Tou-san." Hikari explained calmly. Her father made no motion to either anger or shock at her blunt description of Yamai's 'conversation' with her. The two hated each other and to be honest, Yamai pretty much talked like that all the time and even the more supportive clan members have said he needs to learn to hold back the attitude if he wants to be a better clan head.

"If she has a mission then you cannot bother her Yamai. Leave us." He ordered. The boy glared at her before spitting out a 'Hai, Daisuke-sama' and walking off. Hikari smirked as he left before turning back to her father.

"So what do you need? Telling me when his next challenge is going to be or how much better a male heir would be?" She said as her smirk turned into a scowl. Daisuke again made no motion towards giving away his thoughts at his daughter's words. In reality, Daisuke loved his daughter dearly. However by clan tradition and his own beliefs, a woman was not meant to lead so he supported all the motions to remove her from heir status. So long as they wouldn't involve killing her. He kept trying to break her spirit or find some way to make her fail a challenge as by clan law, she couldn't be removed from her title of heiress without failing a challenge or by doing harm to the clan's reputation. Some had tried to argue her friendship with the Namikaze brat was harming their reputation but Hikari herself had countered that being friendly with teammates was not harming any reputation and that by allying herself on a personal lever with the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko, she was assuring them that the boy would never have any reason to hate the Hanamaru clan. Thus she proved being friends with Naruto was not only helpful but that if they tried to make a fuss about it then they would be harming the clan's rep and not her. Another victory for her and another failure in the 'push her out of heiress status' movement.

"I'm merely curious about your mission Hikari. I do care for you daughter." Hikari scoffed.

"Barely." She muttered before shaking her head. "We're heading out to take care of a bandit problem near Kisai. That's all. There shouldn't be any trouble at all so don't worry. I'll be back for the clan to hate in a few days. So if that's all…" She trailed as he nodded his head. She turned and left back for her room as Daisuke merely sighed and walked back to his office. His conflicting thoughts draining him. On one hand, Hikari was perfect. A skilled ninja, an intelligent and outgoing woman, and a perfect model for the next clan head. But on the other, tradition dictates that she should not take over should her cousin prove superior in a single matter. It frustrated him to no end that the clans' needs and wants were costing him a friendly and loving relationship with his daughter. But the needs of the many come before the needs of one. And that frustrated him to no end.

* * *

><p>"Alright, everyone ready to go?" Kurotsuchi asked as Hikari showed up at the gate. Despite living so close, she was the last to arrive. Kurai used nothing more than his weapon which they had learned he kept hidden through a special jutsu until needed, so he was the first to arrive, merely sealing a few bento's of food into a scroll and placing that in a pocket before waiting at the gate. Naruto had gotten his stuff together and then waited for Kurotsuchi before they just headed to the gate together and waited. Hikari was last and they knew it was likely some clan issues, the sour look on her face practically assured it. When they all nodded Kurotsuchi turned around and led them out. "Alright then. Let's go kill some bandits."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong> – The First Taste

"Okay gaki, seeing as I have to watch you while Kuro-chan goes and does that quick mission with Oonuki-sama, we're going out to eat. Cause we both know I can't cook un." Deidara said as he led a young four year old Naruto through Iwa's streets. The boy had on a simple black t-shirt and tan shorts as Deidara was in casual clothes; a long sleeve tan shirt with Iwa's symbol in the back in black along with black pants. Naruto nodded with a grimace at the memory of the last time Deidara tried to make something harder than a sandwich. He had puked it right back up in under a minute.

"So where we going nii-san?" The boy asked with a bright smile on his face. Deidara suppressed the urge to smack the boy for calling him nii-san when he didn't like the kid that much. But then he'd complain to Kurotsuchi and she'd go all 'protective mom' on him even though the boy wasn't hers at all. She really fell into the mother role quickly he noticed. He shook his head clear of those thoughts as he turned his attention back to Naruto.

"We're heading to a little ramen shop I stop by occasionally after a mission. The food's good, and it's cheap too. So come on un." Deidara led him to a small little shop and sat down at a table as Naruto took the seat across from him, his legs dangling over the edge as he was still short. A few minutes later and a man walked up to them.

"What can I get… you?" He asked as his eyes noticed Naruto. Deidara instantly saw the hatred in the man's eyes and cleared his throat to get his attention back on him. Naruto didn't notice the dark look as he turned his attention back to Deidara before the boy looked at him.

"Two bowls of miso to start with. If we want more we'll order it afterwards." He nodded and turned to leave when Deidara grabbed his hand and gave him a hard look before letting go. The man walked off and read the note the older blonde had slipped into his hand with a shudder.

_Try anything on the boy and I'll blow you and this shop to bits before Tsuchikage-sama brings you back just to dust you himself._

Needless to say the man would stick with just glaring at the young Naruto from now on. Within ten minutes their orders were brought out and Deidara started eating as Naruto seemed to stir it around a bit with his chopsticks before tentatively bringing a small bit to his mouth to try. He never had this ramen stuff before; his Kaa-chan would tell him he needed to eat a healthy palate of foods to make sure he got the nutrients he needed to grow strong. Whatever that meant, his four year old mind only understood that she made 'good' meals so he'd be big and strong like his Aka-nii-chan. Since he had never had ramen before, it likely wasn't on that 'good food' list his Kaa-chan talked about. But she wasn't here and his nii-san would sometimes slip him candy, which he knew was 'bad' but it tasted great. Maybe this ramen stuff was the same way?

Naruto placed a few noodles in his mouth and mulled the taste over for a bit before stopping and staring at the bowl with wide blank eyes. Deidara froze for a minute thinking his warning wasn't enough and the man had poisoned Naruto's bowl when suddenly the boy started devouring the ramen like it was his first meal in years. The older blonde sighed but had a grin on his face as he watched the boy pretty much inhale the noodles. He was bout halfway finished with his bowl when suddenly Naruto put his down. "More please!" He cried out. Deidara stared at him for a moment but then shrugged and waved the man over and asked him to bring out two more bowls. He was planning on having a second himself. A few minutes later and the bowls were set on the table and Naruto started digging into one of them as Deidara was still finishing his first. Just as he finished his first bowl he reached to take the other bowl of ramen he had asked for when Naruto snatched it and started devouring it himself. Deidara looked at him with disbelief on his face as he saw the two bowls Naruto had already devoured and then back to the third the four year old was shoving down.

"That was mine un." He muttered but Naruto didn't hear him. A few seconds later Naruto set the bowl down and let out a small burp.

"This stuff is really good nii-san! Can I have some more?" The Iwa nin stared at him blankly before sighing.

"Sure gaki, have as much as you want un. Oi! We're gonna need more over here!" He called out to the cook. He had no idea what he just unleashed.

* * *

><p>When Kurotsuchi got back that night she saw Naruto sitting on the living room floor playing with a few toys with Deidara sitting on the couch with a torrent of tears running down his face as he stared at a small leather wallet in front of him. "So how were things?" Naruto perked up upon hearing her voice and ran over and hugged her.<p>

"It was great Kaa-chan! Dei-nii-san took me to get some ramen!" Kurotsuchi suppressed the urge to laugh since it was known Deidara didn't like being called that before what Naruto said dawned on her.

"Wait ramen?" She asked as she pulled back slightly and looked at the boy. He nodded with a huge grin on his face before turning to Deidara. "What the hell? I had leftovers in the fridge you could've had! I'm trying to give him a healthy diet Deidara. I don't want you taking him out for junk food like that."

"Don't worry un. I'll never take the gaki out for ramen again." He then looked up and opened the wallet showing it was empty. "The little gaki ate an entire B rank paycheck away! Never again! If he wants the shit he's paying for his own un!" The elder blonde shouted. Naruto pouted at how Deidara was promising to never take him out for ramen again as Kurotsuchi started laughing at his misfortune.


	8. Arc 2 Chapter 3

**Rixxell Stryfe:** Yamai won't be a part of the Chunin Exams. He's finishing up his last year at the academy currently so that won't be happening. To be honest, Yamai and the rest of the Hanamaru clan won't play a big role until later in the story. I just felt it would be best to introduce their big players earlier than that and last chapter was the perfect opportunity.

**Luiz4200:** That's the last part of this arc, before I move onto the third arc which is the Chunin Exams. The wave arc though will be handled differently though. It will be told mostly from Konoha's perspective until Naruto and his team come into play.

**Pyr00tje:** Yes Naruto is, as you put it, a sadistic little fucker in this story. He developed that attitude to deal with the hate he'd get from the Academy instructors and half of the village. It was also spurred on by Kyuubi and Deidara who would tell him 'don't take any shit from people.' As for lemons, eventually yes, but I won't actually type them up until later in the years. You're right in guessing that they could happen at their young age, and I will say that the two will get together like that, but I won't actually type up the scenes until they're older. I will put in lots of innuendo and conversations that tell everyone their banging each other that young though.

* * *

><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz<span>

**Chapter Three –** The Corrupted Soul

"_Kill them all!" A man shouted. There was a loud chorus of 'Hai!' before the screams were heard. The village was burning brightly from fire even as rain fell from the sky. The man turned and looked back at a little boy of around four or five clutching his weapon close to his chest and staring fearfully at the village where the others were slaughtering the populace. "What are you doing boy? I ordered you to kill them!"_

"_B-but killing is wrong!" He shouted with tears in his eyes. The man froze for a moment at the boys' words before striking the boy in the face. The child was sent flying to the ground; surprisingly he still had held his weapon. "I don't want to hurt anybody!"_

"_You foolish boy!" The man yelled as he struck him again. "You have been given the greatest of honors! You will one day be our beacon that will lead us to paradise! I was tasked with ensuring that you grow into what we need and here you are going against our very beliefs!" He continued striking the child as he shouted at him. "Now you will get up and you will kill or trust me, Jashin-sama won't be able to save you from my wrath!" The last thing the boy saw was a black spike coming down towards his chest before there was a loud scream and everything went black._

* * *

><p>"So how long will it take to get to the town?" Naruto asked as the group was running at a comfortable speed through the mountainous terrain of Tsuchi no Kuni. Kurotsuchi gave the team a glance out of the corner of her eye and was happy to see that Naruto wasn't the only one keeping up with her with ease. Hikari and Kurai barely looked like the trip was bothering them. They had been keeping their current pace since leaving Iwa and not once had they stopped for a break. That was an hour ago.<p>

"Well if we keep the pace were going at then Kisai should be coming up in about another hour or so." She answered before turning her attention back on the path they were following. Naruto nodded and then gave a slight grin. Bandit extermination missions were is favorite missions because they let him test his fighting skills. Plus sometimes bandits grouped together under a missing nin to make them a bigger threat. Thus, Naruto would likely get an even bigger challenge. He merely kept quiet with his small grin, hoping that these bandits would provide a good fight.

Meanwhile Hikari was keeping her face blank as she focused on the task ahead of them. She was still a little pissed at the small interaction with her cousin from before they left but she knew to keep personal problems out of mind during missions. Kurai was much the same way with an emotionless look as they headed to the village. After they arrived there their plan would be to get info from the civilians about the bandits and possibly a location before a search for the group and then an eventual battle. Kurai would make sure that the bandits wouldn't escape, he had been trained in Iwa to never let a target escape.

The remainder of the trip had been silent. Not uncomfortable silence but rather just understanding. Naruto had voiced the only relevant question at the time and after getting the answer they continued on without a word. They couldn't plan out a battle strategy without information and neither could they rush on ahead without exhausting themselves. It was a simple understanding and nobody really had anything worth talking about anyways so they wouldn't try to force conversation, that just annoyed them.

* * *

><p>"Okay, you know the drill. Find out what you can and meet back here in two hours." Kurotsuchi ordered before they split up after arriving in town. They were going to ask the villagers about any and all info about the bandits they could get while their sensei would speak with the mayor, who had requested the mission, and speak with him about it. Naruto wandered around town with his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of a good place to ask people about their problem. Eventually he just walked up to a street merchant that was selling some fruits.<p>

"Hey there." The man looked up to see the young shinobi in black and wondered what he wanted before noticing the headband.

"Oh a ninja. You must be here about them bandits." Naruto grinned and nodded his head.

"Oh good, you know about them. I'm looking to get some info before I regroup with my team and we take 'em out. Got anything you can tell me?" He asked as he grabbed an apple and tossed the man a couple ryo for it.

"Sure. They've been messin' with us for about a week or so. There's at least ten of 'em and word is they got some missing nin to be leadin' 'em." The man replied. Naruto nodded his head with a thoughtful look as he took a bite out of the apple.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Uh… last I think they messed with me brother's shipment of food that was supposed to come in from the south. That was two days ago. They might still be around there." Naruto grinned and tossed the man another ryo.

"Thanks." The blond then continued on and asked around, most said the same although the number seemed to vary from ten to thirty, but that only made him grin more. More enemies meant a better fight. A better fight was exactly what he wanted. Besides, if things got out of hand he'd just use Kyuubi and rip through everything before he'd head back to Iwa with his team.

"**I'm not your goddamned cheat code to life boy."** The fox grumbled in his head at that last thought. Naruto merely put his body on autopilot as he focused on talking with the fox.

'_Well why not Kyuubi? I was under the impression you liked it when I used your power to kill things.'_

"**I do, when it's actually a challenge. Bandits are people you could kill when you were ten. They would only have been a challenge when you first contacted me."**

'_Well don't you also like when there's an overwhelming number to slaughter?'_

"**But you have to split the work with that team of yours. You can't just let me loose to do some damage so don't bother using me. I find it insulting."**

'_Whatever. Still though, you gonna watch the battle'_

"**What do you think? I love watching you kill things. Try and make it interesting kit."** Kyuubi replied with what Naruto could obviously tell was amusement in its voice. The blond just smirked as he pulled his focus back to his surroundings and took another bite of his apple. He'd enjoy this mission, that was for sure.

* * *

><p>"I see. Alright then, we'll start our search from the southern edge of town and spread out in a southsouth-east fashion. Use your radios if you find them. Remember do not engage until the entire team arrives unless you must. Move out!" Kurotsuchi ordered. The group had come together and shared what they learned, which was pretty much the same thing only that the supposed missing nin was apparently from Suna. Other than that though they all found out the same thing, somewhere between ten to thirty enemies and the bandits had been harassing the area for a couple weeks. The group quickly checked to make sure their radios were working and were set to the correct signal before heading out.

'_Now let's see, I'm the best at tracking things on our team so I'll likely find them first.'_ Hikari thought as she leapt up to a tree and looked around. From her high vantage point she could also see her teammates and sensei as they spread out. A small grin came to her face as she thought about the fun she's had with them, especially with Naruto. She quickly shook her head to get her focus back on the mission before jumping down to keep up her search. As soon as she landed she dashed forward and kept her eyes peeled for any signs of activity. The mission would be simple and over quickly.

'_No signs of life outside the local animal population. Have the targets already moved on? Or did they gain notice of us and are waiting in ambush? Too many variables to make a proper decision at this time. I must simply continue my search.'_ Kurai thought as he stood up from kneeling on the ground to inspect what he thought could have been a clue but turned out to be a simple bear print. As he stood he heard a twig snap and spun to face the source only to see a small raccoon running away from his sudden action. He sighed but straightened himself before looking around and continuing his search.

"Boring!" Naruto whined as he kept looking around. He had very little skill in finding things without something pointing him exactly where to go, like a map and compass. A guide wouldn't hurt either. He was just looking around for people and then if he managed to find the bandit camp he would call his team and make sure the camp wouldn't run off somewhere. As he looked around with his hands folded behind his head, his tenant started to complain.

"**Will you shut up boy? You're just letting them know you're looking for them! If you shut up, you may find someone!"**

'_And I should listen to your furry ass why?'_

"**Because we both want you to kill something and because you're retarded and should listen to your superiors."**

'_Oh fuck off you stupid fox.'_

"**Just do what I say kit. I think I can sense some group of life to your left."** That actually got Naruto's attention. He quickly crouched down and did his best to suppress his massive chakra signature before silently running through the undergrowth of the few trees that they were surrounded by. Pretty soon he came upon a small encampment of men that were mostly eating or messing with their weapons, which were mostly swords or knives.

'_Thanks Kyuubi.'_ Naruto muttered out in his head before backing off a ways and contacting the team. "Targets have been found. I'm about a ten minute run south east of where we started."

"_Good job Naruto-kun. Wait for us while keeping an eye on them."_ Came Kurotsuchi's voice.

"Got it."

"You can come out now little genin." A voice called out getting Naruto to spin around and glare at the small group of three that had come out to confront him. Two weren't really dressed any different from the other bandits but the one who had spoken was different. He had dark green hair that was tied into a spiked ponytail that stuck out from the back of his head. Worn as a face mask was a black bandana with a slashed Suna plate on it. His black eyes narrowed at the boy as he held a large shuriken in both hands. He had on a worn tan Suna flak jacket worn open without a shirt underneath showing his scarred but muscled body. He had on dark brown shorts as well along with black sandals and tied to each leg were three scrolls each. "What's a little blond twerp like you doing out here? Were you sent to take us out? Ha! Don't make me laugh."

"Oh darn, you found me." Naruto sighed out in a tone that showed he clearly did not care he had been discovered. "I guess that means I have to fight." He then raised his fists and smiled. "Make sure not to hold back now."

"Don't hold back? Boy do you realize who you're-!" The Suna nin shouted before jumping back as Naruto was right where he just was and had stabbed both the men next to him in the chest with kunai. "Well well, someone's fast. But that doesn't matter to me! Nobody can stand before Suna's Jiton! (Magnet Release)" He shouted before whipping the two large throwing stars at the boy's head. Naruto simply let out a feral smirk.

* * *

><p>"So Naruto found them. That's surprising considering he can't find shit." Hikari commented as she regrouped with Kurai and Kurotsuchi. They had then quickly headed to collect Naruto so they could plan an attack and then eliminate the bandits. Kurai nodded his agreement with his teammate's open backhand to Naruto's skills. That was one thing all three on the team shared, they didn't brag about stuff they couldn't do. If they were horrible at something, they wouldn't try and hide it. They'd freely admit they were bad at that subject and then humiliate andor kill you with another. Naruto was the worst tracker on the team. Him finding the bandit camp so quickly meant he was either lucky or they were advertising and shouting for attention. Considering the lack of them noticing, and the boy's infamous luck at poker back in Iwa they were betting on the former. (Oonuki and Deidara swore off playing with the kid after three nights of trying and failing to beat him. Said story spread through Iwa within a week and the two were laughing stocks for losing to a gambling ten year old.)

"Yeah, he probably just stumbled across them. To be honest I'm surprised we haven't heard an explosion yet. I mean, he can't really stay hidden either." Kurotsuchi said. Kurai again nodded at the open insults to his teammates skills without comment. He wasn't one for insulting or praising someone. He gave you the cold hard truth and that was that. The cold hard truth about Naruto's stealth and tracking skills were that they were barely above your average genin and were easily the worst on the team. But he made up for them with his speed and everything else.

"We should hurry. I wish to complete the mission and return home." Kurai monotoned getting the girls to let out a small right as they picked up their speed before finding the bandit camp all cheering and surrounding something in the center of them. Hikari and Kurotsuchi were speechless and staring at the bandits in shock as they seemed to blatantly cheer and jeer at whatever they were watching.

"What the hell is going on?" Kurotsuchi accidentally exclaimed. She then slapped her hand over her mouth but none of the enemies bothered turning around to see who spoke. Rather they must have assumed they were members that had just gotten back from something as they answered the question.

"Boss said he felt some chakra signature nearby and went to check it out when he returned fighting this blond kid from Iwa. He told us to stay back and the kid just seemed to get happy and they started ducking it out. I don't really know what's going on but this fight's damn entertaining. Plus if by some impossible miracle the kid beats boss then we'll just kill him ourselves." The bandit replied without turning around. Kurotsuchi was livid at the thought of Naruto disobeying her orders. She made a single hand sign before Henge'ing into a bland bandit and pushing her way through the group to see who Naruto was fighting. Kurai and Hikari quietly did the same and followed her to see.

"Jiton: Kyokusei Kichigai!" (Magnet Release: Polarity Madness) The Suna nin shouted as he threw his large shuriken at the blond again. Naruto ducked under one and used the gauntlet on his left wrist to deflect the other. He then charged the man but had to flip to the side to avoid the shuriken as they flew back to him and spun around him. "We've been goin' at this for about eight minutes now genin. I gotta admit, you're the first to last this long against me since I left Suna. How about I up the stakes again?" He taunted before grabbing one of the scrolls tied to his leg and unsealing its contents. Three more shuriken the same size as the others appeared and he quickly grabbed them and channeled chakra to them before tossing them at Naruto. The blonde began to rapidly dodge them before the two from earlier flew at him as well. The strange thing Naruto noticed was that the shuriken wouldn't simply fly and then stick in the ground but rather they would spin around and try to strike him from multiple angles.

"You're controlling these things with your chakra aren't you?" He asked as he dodged them again, the same smirk on his face that he had ever since the fight started.

"Correct. My Jiton: Kyokusei Kichigai allows me to control metal I've channeled my bloodline chakra into. And best of all," he started as he grabbed another scroll and unsealed another three giant shuriken. "Is that it doesn't take much chakra and I can control multiple targets at once!" He shouted as he added the newest three to his attack. Naruto was still dodging with ease but he lost his smirk now. Something the ninja noticed. "Oh, not having fun anymore little genin? Well that's too bad! You were stupid to think you could take me on! I sensed your chakra as soon as you got close to the camp and I plan on killing you before you can call for reinforcements!" This got Naruto to laugh as he continued dodging. "What's so funny?"

"I called them right before you approached me." Everyone's eyes widened at the boy's remarks as he grinned darkly. "They should be here any minute now and the only reason all of you aren't dead yet was because I didn't want to steal all the fun for myself. My mother always taught me to share you see." He joked before jumping straight up. The Suna nin gritted his teeth but waved his hands towards the boy sending all the shuriken at him at once.

"Futon: Senpuu Bakuha!" (Wind Release: Whirlwind Blast) Naruto shouted as he threw a hand forward and launched a small whirlwind at the shuriken, knocking them all off course. With a grin he quickly did more signs and a soon as he landed called out a second jutsu. "Futon: Tatsumaki Taihou!" (Wind Release: Tornado Cannon) Naruto slammed his hands together launching a large twister straight towards the Suna nin. The man dodged to the side and grit his teeth as he reasserted his control over the shuriken and made them start spinning in the air around himself.

"Not bad brat. Not many people back home have such good control over their element, and we're part of _Kaze no Kuni_ (Land of Wind) for Kami's sake! It really makes me wonder just who in Iwa could've trained you."

"Well mostly it was my Kaa-chan, but Tsuchikage-oji-sama is the only other wind user in the village so he gave me tips with my element. Not that I really need to use it against small fry like you. After all, you're a sensor, can't you tell?" Naruto taunted as the man narrowed his eyes and made the ram sign to focus his chakra. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the boy, who grinned in return. "Yeah, you caught me not cause I suck but cause it's a pain in the ass to suppress all this."

"How the hell does a kid like you have so much chakra?" He shouted as he unsealed the rest of his shuriken, bringing the grand total up to fifteen. Naruto just shook his finger at the man the way an adult would do to a child.

"Now that would be telling. But I think it's time I ended this farce." Naruto replied before standing up straight and getting a serious look on his face. "Sensei, I know you're already in the crowd, can you just start killing now? I'm getting bored playing with this jonin wannabe."

"You're getting your ass kicked when we get home Naruto-kun." A voice replied, to which he shrugged before three of the bandits were surrounded by puffs of smoke to reveal they were his team under Henge. The bandits spun around in shock but before they could do anything in return were struck down by kunai from Kurotsuchi as Hikari ran through hand signs and Kurai held his right hand out. "Team, kill 'em all!" She shouted as Hikari finished her hand signs and slammed her hands on the ground.

"Doton: Doryuso!" (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears) She shouted as spears of stone shot up piercing many of the nearby men. Over by Kurai, a black energy flowed out of his hand before forming a scythe which he grabbed and began to cut through the bandits like paper with exceptional skill and speed. Naruto meanwhile had charged back at the Suna ninja to finish his fight. Kurotsuchi simply used kunai in her hands to strike down everyone she could reach.

"Shit! Die you fucking brat!" The man shouted as he sent his multiple shuriken towards Naruto. The boy however grinned as his gauntlets glowed for a second before a blade shot out from the space between the fox's 'eyes' on both gauntlets. The blades were two feet long and serrated on both sides as they were parallel to his hands along with a sharpened point to them. With his blades Naruto began to cut down the shuriken as they came, channeling wind chakra through his blades so that they would cut straight through the enemies metal stars. The shards fell to the ground useless as the ninja cut his connection to them after seeing them get sliced through. He managed to direct two away from the boy and back to his hands as he leapt back as Naruto continued charging him. "Fine, let's see how your team handles this!" He shouted before throwing his two left towards Hikari and Kurai respectively. Hikari saw it coming right away and was quick to flip behind a group of men so when the shuriken flew at her it instead embedded itself in one's back as he dropped the ground. Kurai though wasn't paying the slightest attention to Naruto's opponent but was focusing on the more direct threats and because of it, he never saw the shuriken flying at his head.

"KURAI MOVE!" Naruto shouted out. The boy spun around and saw what was coming and quickly jumped, but his reaction was too slow as the shuriken twisted in mid-air and struck him clean in the chest. The black haired youth fell to the ground with a blank look as the shuriken was embedded in his chest. Naruto spun and ran at the Suna ninja as Hikari grit her teeth and began to tear through the bandits around her in anger. Only Kurotsuchi focused on the fallen boy. And what she saw made he grit her teeth.

"Shit. Hikari! Naruto! Fallback now!" Both were confused as to why they had to fallback as the Academy had taught them to fight on even if a teammate were to fall. While they lost Kurai it didn't seem like a reason for a full on retreat. If anything they just needed to stop holding back some of their more dangerous techniques. At least that was what they thought until they heard the laughing. It started quiet but gained strength until everyone could clearly here it over the sounds of battle and froze. This wasn't a laugh of triumph or of some battlefield humor, that was obvious. The laugh was one of the deranged, the mad, the insane that take pleasure in things only they know. They all turned to the source and were shocked to see it was coming from Kurai, still lying on the ground with the shuriken stuck in his chest. From there personal experience with the teen during the few weeks of being a team, they could freely admit they were freaked out by the boy's laughter. Kurai had never cracked a smile or even given a sigh of annoyance, yet he just got a large sharp metal star slammed into his chest and suddenly he was laughing his ass off. It honestly scared them worse than any one of the bandits or even their missing nin commander could. "Hikari, Naruto! NOW!" Kurotsuchi yelled to get them moving. The two merely looked at her and saw her with a focused look on her face. She clearly knew what was going on so they would follow her without complaint like they were supposed to.

"Why are we running?" Naruto asked as he leapt into the surrounding trees and met up with his teammate and sensei on the outskirts, still watching the bandits and laughing Kurai.

"Because all hell is about to break loose now that Kurai is bleeding." Kurotsuchi answered. The two shared confused glances before asking why and she just ran her hand through her hair as she watched the event unfold. "The two of you never asked what happened to his last team did you?" They shook their heads no so she began to explain. "Alright, then listen and listen well. You're technically his third teammates. The first we're killed by an enemy during a mission, he was the only survivor. The last one though, Kurai got hit and started bleeding. Then this happened, and he killed his team himself."

* * *

><p>"What the fuck are you laughing about?" A bandit shouted as he bravely walked up to the laughing teen on the ground. Kurai paid no attention to the man as he kept laughing with his eyes closed. Thinking he would shut up the creepy boy he raised a sword up ready to slash it down and cut off his head. Just as he was about to, the boy stood straight up and was gripping him by the throat, his eyes still closed and he was still laughing. "Let me go you freak!" He choked out as Kurai opened his eyes. They were still gray like before, only now they shined with an obvious madness that wasn't present before. With a slight gasp of pain Kurai used his free hand to pull the shuriken out of his chest with a sickening squelch of blood. He stared at it as he spun it a few times in his hand before turning back to the man he held.<p>

"You know…" He started in a deceptively calm monotone compared to the maniacal laughter he was giving just a second ago. "My teammate was right about something. We've all been taught at one point to share." He said before grinning madly. He then spun the shuriken in his hand and laughed. "So why don't we share the pain!" He shouted as he rammed the shuriken straight into the mans' chest and dropped him to the ground. The others backed up in shock as the teen looked around and then held his right hand out. "_Soul Reaver_, come back to your master please." He asked calmly as the weapon lying a few feet away from him dissipated into a black mist before swirling around his outstretched hand and reforming. It was now that the bandits got a good look at the weapon he was using. The shaft was black as midnight and at least five feet long. At one end was a small purple gem that seemed to glow, with what they had no clue. On the opposite end in gold was a large circle with a triangle imposed on it. Coming from one side of the circle was a blood red blade that curved out for two feet from him. All in all, it was a dangerous looking and deadly weapon that seemed to fit the boy's personality change perfectly.

"How the hell are you not dead?" The Suna nin shouted out as he pulled a kunai out from a small pouch. The man was dealing with the boy better than the bandits were but was still scared and creeped out by the boy standing in the middle of them, blood freely pouring out of the wound he dealt to his chest. Kurai just started to laugh as he looked around from scared face to scared face before settling his eyes on the ninja. "Fucking answer me you freak!"

"Freak?" He asked, seemingly testing the word in his mouth as he kept up a grin. "I guess you could say that, but it's not my name so don't call me it. It's not my fault you can't grasp that I'm immortal." He replied, getting everyone to gasp in shock, including Naruto and Hikari from outside the group as they listened in. Kurotsuchi merely kept her eyes focused on the boy, ready for when she would have to react. She was briefed on Kurai before being placed as his sensei and knew what she was supposed to do if and when he got like this. She was ready to do it as well, though Naruto and Hikari had no clue. Their attention was drawn ad the boy continued to talk. "As I don't like being called a freak, I suppose that means I have to tell you my name then doesn't it? Well then you can call me Sin!"

* * *

><p>Latest chapter for your entertainment. Next chapter will finish this mission up and then one or two more before switching to the Konoha point of view. So read, review and favorite! I promise not to take so long next time!<p> 


	9. Arc 2 Chapter 4

**Joao brasileiro:** Naruto doesn't know any yet, but he will learn some later. Onoki wanted Naruto to have more combat potential first since he is supposed to be a weapon first and foremost. Naruto will learn funijutsu eventually, it just hasn't happened yet. And Naruto's not dumb per say, more like he just doesn't care a lot most of the time so he won't bother trying, kind of like Shikamaru but not as lazy and far more sadistic.

**DefinitelyNotPaimon:** Don't worry, just because Kurai is seemingly immortal doesn't mean he's overpowered. It just makes him hard to take down but not impossible. I've gone to great lengths to make Kurai both strong yet not invincible. Currently since he has more experience than Naruto, he is stronger than the blond, but that will change soon as Naruto grows and surpasses him.

**THEtoken1:** Naruto is not actually doing the 'Wave mission' as in protecting Tazuna and saving the country from Gato. He and his team will play an actually very small role there that's mostly being done for a small plot purpose. That mission will mostly be told from the Konoha point of view. As for the Chunin Exams in Konoha, it was Konoha's turn to host them so if I wanted an Exam arc, it has to happen there or I put it off and then say Iwa or another village hosted the next Exams then. But these Exams are special because of the Suna-Oto invasion which I want to throw Naruto into that mess in a way so I need him to go to these Exams. Also I hear this a lot but where and when was it said only allied villages could go to the Chunin Exams? That makes it seem like only Konoha and its allies could attend when we know that's false. After all, Konoha had never heard of Oto before they showed up for the Exams since they were new. How could they possibly have an alliance with a village that they never knew about? They can't so that right there proves that all villages can go to the Exams, not just allies. Another example is Ame. Konoha is neutral to Ame, not allied, and yet there were two Ame teams in the Exams. It's just that it's less likely to send a team to the Exams in an enemy village since they'd likely be targeted and hindered however possible since they could do so and get away with it to a point. The Exams aren't allies only and whoever first thought they were is a retarded moron.

**Authors Note:** Sorry this took so long but I've been working on my Kurai Kitsune story mostly for the past while. Now though I'm going to be working exclusively on this and my Souru Chixeen story until I finish the story arcs I'm in. Once that's done I'll go back to my normal schedule which really is just typing whatever I'm feeling inspiration for at the moment and not a schedule at all. Still though, sorry for the wait and I hope this and the coming chapters make up for it.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz

**Chapter Four –** The Darkness Within

_The woman cried as she hugged her young daughter to her chest and hid. The two were hiding in an alley where the attack started since she believed they wouldn't go back to an area they already slaughtered. Both her and her daughter's clothes were splattered with blood in many places as they huddled behind some rubble from a building to stay hidden._

_Where had these monsters come from was the woman's thought, for there was no doubt in her mind that they were monsters. No human could possibly come out of nowhere and slaughter an entire village in such a bloody manner with smiles and laughs for no reason at all. All of them were dressed similarly in black clothes and all carried a scythe of some sort while a few carried black pikes. She didn't even know if they were shinobi either since none of them wore any headband with a village mark anywhere for her to see._

_A sudden sound alerted her that a couple were likely close so she whispered for her daughter to be quiet as she clutched her closer to her body and tried to be as small and silent as possible. Her hopes were dashed when one ran past her with a laugh and faced her while pointing a black scythe dripping with red blood on it at her. "Ha survivors! I knew I could sense life over here!" He shouted. However before he could kill the two six more leapt out and surrounded the woman and girl, all with bloody weapons and sadistic grins. They just stood, waiting while one walked forward. This one was different in that he didn't carry a scythe, just a couple black pikes in each hand. He looked down at the two before looking up._

"_As promised to Jashin-sama, his great Apostle shall offer the last of this heathen village in bloody glory to his name." All the others lowered their scythes and got down on one knee, still with their vile grins that made the woman sick across there faces. She expected the man in front of her who had made the announcement to attack however she was surprised and confused when he knelt down like the others, eyes still looking up above. Then she felt something drip on her head and looked up to gasp at the sight._

_Above her, standing on a wall was a young boy, no older than four or five at best holding a bloody scythe. He had spiked black hair that was matted down with blood and glowing purple eyes. The scythe was black with a glowing purple gem on one end and a golden circle with a triangle embedded into it on the other, the red blade coming out of the side of the strange symbol. The boy only wore a pair of torn and bloody black shorts, being without any footwear or shirt of any kind. His chest and arms were covered in various scars but what scared the woman the most was the large black pike stuck through his chest, the wound leaking blood even as she could see the other end of the pike sticking out of his back. The boy merely gestured the scythe that had dripped blood on her upwards with a grin as he spoke, a dead and cold yet sadistically happy voice that spoke a single sentence. "Jashin-sama thanks you for the offering." The last screams of the night immediately followed._

"Sin? The fuck kind of name is that?" The Suna sin shouted as he took a step back from the clearly insane boy. The bandits weren't doing much better as they had no idea how to handle someone that could have a giant hole in his chest and still live.

"It's the name I chose for myself. Why? Is there a problem with it?" He asked rhetorically. Kurai, or rather Sin, spun the scythe in his hand as his normally gray eyes took on a purple glow. The scythe blade began to glow white as he continued spinning it. "Tell you what; if you don't like my name then you can die first. After all there so many others here to play with and offer to my lord."

"L-lord?" One of the bandits stuttered out as they all started to back up, preparing to run. Fuck their ninja boss's orders, they were not going to stay and face this monster in human flesh. Sin nodded with a grin as he stopped spinning his scythe, raising it above his head with one hand.

"Jashin-sama, I gleefully offer the blood of these heathens in your glorious name! Engetsu!" (Crescent Moon) He shouted as he slashed down, the white glow becoming a glowing white blade of energy that flew towards the Suna ninja at a high speed. It was only the mans' shinobi training that saved him as he rolled to the side and looked back to see the white spectral blade carve through three people behind them, killing them instantly. He quickly looked back to see the boy charging towards the nearest person and slashing at them, cutting open chests and removing limbs with sadistic glee. The Jiton user quickly noticed that whereas before his fighting style was skilled and refined, now it was little more than a brawler with a 'swing-and-hop-I-hit' mentality. While he could take advantage of this to easily kill him now, the problem was that wouldn't work since he had already landed a fatal blow on the boy and he survived. As such he felt the only option left was to retreat. So while Sin was occupied killing his men the Suna nin prepared to run, only for the blond he was facing earlier to appear in front of him.

"And where do you think you're running off to?"

"Sensei, what the hell's going on?" Hikari shouted to Kurotsuchi who was stoically watching from the sidelines as Sin ruthlessly slaughtered the bandits. The older woman sighed but kept her eyes on the glowing eyed teen as she answered.

"Kurai wasn't born in Iwa. A few jonin found him with that scythe around five years ago on the border of Tsuchi no Kuni alone when they went to investigate a village that had been slaughtered. He was the only one alive so they brought him back to see if he could tell us what happened but he couldn't remember. Or best interrogators went into his head to try and sort through his memories but they couldn't. We've never had any mind readers as skilled as the Yamanaka of Konoha after all. All they could figure out was that the boy was repressing part of his memories and personality so he was given a place to stay and some counseling to try and help him through everything. Instead what happened was Kurai grew more and more emotionless while the repressed part of him came to take on a life of its own, which started calling itself Sin. Where Kurai is emotionless and efficient, the epitome of what a shinobi is supposed to be; Sin is brutal and sadistic, nothing more than a mass murderer in the name of some occult god that worships death, pain, and bloodshed. Tsuchikage-sama decided to try and put Kurai to use by enrolling him in the Academy to be a shinobi and Kurai blazed through it, completing a four year course in just two and quickly rising to become one of Iwa's top genin." Kurotsuchi paused as Sin sliced off a head and then grabbed it from the air and chucked it a fleeing bandit to knock them over.

"Okay, but what the hell is going on now? How did this happen?"

"Because Kurai started bleeding." She responded while Hikari turned away from the scene that was getting just a little too disturbing for her when the boy literally ripped the intestines out of a man after cutting his gut open. Sure the girl was a little sadistic; it was all but a requirement to be a shinobi, the willingness to harm others without remorse. But that was starting to be a little much for her. "Normally Kurai is in control and fine, however it was discovered that making him bleed, even in the slightest of amounts makes him go into shock. Shock that Sin uses to assert control over his body and do what he wants. The best psychologists in Iwa were only able to get one goal out of Sin before he had to be restrained. Sin wants to slaughter the world in the name of his god. Friends, family, any and everybody; Sin cares only for pleasing this Jashin character in the bloodiest manner possible while Kurai just wants to serve the village that gave him a home and purpose. Tsuchikage-sama saw this and felt it could be somewhat useful; hence the boy is still a shinobi despite the obvious risk to his own teammates. It's wrong and cruel to everyone else but nobody can deny that Kurai is strong. Or that Sin isn't effective as long as you stay out of his way."

"What do you mean? I mean, besides the obvious crowd killer here."

"Imagine it for a moment Hikari. You're fighting an enemy that at first is emotionless and efficient. That puts people off somewhat as it's by reading emotions and responses that most high level shinobi fight so well. Now as you're struggling against such a foe, you finally inflict an injury of some sort to him. Instead of getting to feel some small pride and hope for that fact, the boy changes into an insane bloodthirsty zealot that charges you with an unending passion. Most people are so shocked by the change that they stumbled or freeze up, which gets them killed. The ones that can fight through that will instead start to find that no matter what wound they inflict on him, he keeps laughing and coming straight at you. Fatal wounds that had served them well for years in their career are suddenly worthless, their best jutsu are nothing more than stumbling blocks for the immortal they're fighting. Most would lose moral and quit right there while others would run or go insane trying to stop him. As long as someone's around to subdue Sin after his fights, he's considered a perfect psychological weapon against the enemy in addition to a mighty force for our army."

"So you can subdue him?" Hikari asked. Her sensei nodded so the girl let out a slightly relieved sigh since she had no idea how to fight an enemy like that. She had her clan techniques but she wasn't sure they'd do more than slow him down from Kurotsuchi's description. That was when they both noticed the lack of one sarcastic and slightly sadistic comment that would normally be made. "Wait, where's Naruto?"

"I'm going to kill that boy one day…"

"Come on now, where's the fun you gave me earlier?" Naruto taunted as he backhanded the missing-nin to the ground. The man spat out a tooth that had been broken and stood back up before rushing the blond with two kunai. Naruto pulsed some chakra into his gauntlets to bring out the blades as he dueled with the jonin. It was obvious to Naruto that he wasn't very skilled in close combat, instead it seemed like he relied on his control over his shuriken with his bloodline to batter down an enemy from a distance and then swing in for the kill when he had to. While Naruto was one of the best close-range combatants out of all of Iwa's genin, he should not have been able to hold his own against a jonin so easily. Naruto crossed his blades to block a downward stab from the man before pushing up and making the man stumble back a step. Before he could react Naruto shot chakra to his legs to increase his speed and blurred from the Suna nin's sight. As Naruto reappeared behind him the man felt multiple slashes appear all over his chest as he collapsed in a bloody heap. "So weak. Maybe you should've stayed in your village and trained because you suck." Naruto was about to walk back to his sensei to see what to do about Kurai when his instincts screamed for him to move so he did, just as Kurai's scythe whipped through where he just was and impaled the struggling to stand Suna nin in the head. Naruto's eyes widened at the bloody weapon now stuck blade first in the man's head as he fell back to the ground dead as Kurai walked up calmly and retrieved his weapon with a small tug. "Huh, well thanks Kurai."

"Kurai? Did you not hear my name earlier?" The teen asked as he turned to face Naruto, a strangely blank look on his face. Naruto was slightly confused as while he had heard him call himself Sin, he had ignored it. He also hadn't stuck around Kurotsuchi to hear her explanation but rather had left to fight the Suna nin the moment he saw him trying to escape. As such, while he was somewhat creeped out by Kurai's shocking change into Sin, he didn't see much of a threat since they were teammates. The knowledge he had killed his old team was ignored as well as he felt they must've gotten in his way. In reality Sin had hunted them down after the target and killed them himself on purpose, not that the blond knew that. "I am Sin."

"That's nice." Naruto remarked dryly, both loving and hating this new side to his teammate he was seeing. Right now he just wanted to head home since the mission was over. "Anyways, let's get going. I'm getting kinda sleepy out here so let's go."

"Oh but we can't…" Naruto had just turned to leave when he suddenly spun around and blocked the scythe inches from his face with his gauntlets. "There's still people to offer to Jashin-sama around here!"

"What the fuck are you doing? We're teammates you ass!" Naruto shouted as Sin let out a laugh and grinned.

"Just because you work with that pathetic shell I share this body with means nothing to me! That fool is too weak to do what Jashin-sama requires so it's up to me to spread his glorious teachings of pain and blood across the world!" Sin shouted as his scythe began to glow again. "As Apostle to his great glory, I kill all in his name! Engetsu!" He yelled as he leapt back and swung out a new crescent blade at Naruto to attack him. The blonde rolled to the side and pushed chakra into his gauntlets to bring out the blades for a third time as he began to deflect the attacks.

"Naruto duck!" The boy did just that as Hikari came in over his now bent body and dropkicked Sin in the face to send him back while she stood at the ready next to her sane teammate. "We've gotta hold him down so sensei can put Kurai back in control."

"Oh great, no problems there." Naruto quipped but stood at the ready as Sin stood up and grinned sadistically towards Hikari.

"Oh goodie, the other young sacrifice offers herself up rather than fighting her fate." Hikari snarled and made hand-signs as she glared.

"Fuck you freak." She then sunk into the earth as Naruto rushed forward to battle the boy. The two began exchanging blows at a rapid pace, surprising Naruto slightly. Whenever he would spar with Kurai, the boy would struggle to get past Kurai's impeccable guard with his scythe while also avoiding any tricks the gray eyed teen would use to manipulate the blade portion of his weapon behind Naruto to strike from his unguarded back. When Sin had taken over and slaughtered the bandits, he had gone with a very brutal but sloppy style, befitting his seemingly new personality quite well. Now though, Naruto was fighting a mixture of the two. It seemed that Sin only used that brutal and bastardized style earlier because he could get away with it. But now that he was fighting someone with skill he was using a more brutal but just as skilled and efficient version of Kurai's normal style, which is to say it was hard for Naruto to keep his guard safe while trying to disarm or injure the boy.

"Damn man, I'm not sure whether I love or hate this new side to you. You're not some stupid drone but you can't tell friend from foe. Can you switch to a half-and-half sort of personality?" Naruto joked to try and hide his growing frustration at how Sin was fending him off while keeping Naruto on his toes. The boy just sneered in response before managing to snap a kick to Naruto's chest to make him stumble back. As he was about to lash out with his scythe he leapt back as Hikari came up from underneath trying to impale him on a kunai.

"Too slow!" Hikari's eyes widened as Sin lashed out in what would surely cut her in half from the waist when blond filled her vision and Naruto stood in front of her with his back facing her, taking the blade in his side though making sure to grab the shaft of the weapon to keep it from cutting all the way through him.

"N-Naruto…"

"You… you alright Hikari?" Naruto asked as he coughed up some blood, keeping a firm grip on the scythe to make sure Sin couldn't drive it further into him or pull it out of his side.

"Yoton: Sekkaigyo no Jutsu!" (Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique) Kurotsuchi called out from behind as she struck Sin's upper body and legs with the gray substance before running through a few more hand-signs. "Suiton: Mizurappa!" (Water Release: Water Trumpet) From her mouth came a high pressure stream of water that mixed with her first jutsu to harden it into concrete that held Sin in place. As the boy struggled to get free she made another set of hand-signs and placed her hand on his head. His eyes widened before he slumped in his captured place, unconscious from the genjutsu Kurotsuchi placed him under. With a sigh she then turned to Naruto.

'_Kyuubi, damage assessment.'_

"**It nicked your kidney and stomach but mostly got just muscle. As soon as you remove the blade I'm gonna shove some of my chakra through you to heal you up fast enough not to die instantly. Just cause you can regenerate from just about everything doesn't mean you can be so reckless you moron. I don't wanna die here dumbass."**

'_Oh just shut up and heal me.'_ Naruto shot back as he yanked the blade out of him with a grunt and began coughing up some blood. His eyes turned red and his whiskers thickened as Kyuubi's chakra ran through his body to speed up his healing enough for Naruto to survive. Hikari was still staring in shock at how Naruto had leapt in to take the blow for her while Kurotsuchi let out a small smile at seeing the wound in Naruto's side close up.

"N-Naruto?" Hikari questioned as she stood up and walked over to Naruto's wounded side. "Are… are you going to be okay?" The blonde let out a deep breath and grunt as he nodded, still holding his side as though it was healing, it still hurt. "Why?" He closed one eye as he glanced her with the other with and eyebrow raised so she explained what she meant. "Why did you take that attack for me? You could've died."

Naruto closed his open eye as he thought about why he had risked his body for the girl before answering. "Cause we're friends. I mean, sure I could always get some other teammate or I probably could've stopped that attack some other way but I just reacted when I saw you about to get killed. I can't really say much more than that I guess." Hikari was silent for a second before smiling lightly.

"Well thank you Naruto… kun." Naruto's eyes went wide as Hikari turned and started walking back towards the village where they would inform the town that the bandits were gone. Kurotsuchi had broken Kurai's unconscious form out of her concrete mix and had bandaged the wound up enough so that it wouldn't bleed before tossing the boy over her shoulder and walking off herself, leaving Naruto there alone for a moment before he shook his head and followed. Unseen to the rest, a small smile came over his face.

"So we've just gotta wait for the bastard to wake up before we can head home?" Naruto asked as the group was in a hotel room Kurotsuchi had gotten for the night. To be honest, it was doubtful they'd even be there the whole night but they had wanted a place to rest and clean up while waiting for Kurai and a hotel fit nicely. The three conscious Iwa nin and each showered and changed into a spare set of clean clothes that they each kept sealed in a scroll with other supplies for any possible long term missions. Kurai was bandaged up and lying on one of the two beds without moving while Kurotsuchi was leaning against the window and Hikari and Naruto sat next to each other on the bed.

Apparently after calling the girl his friend openly and saving her life, she started calling the blonde Naruto-kun so he responded in kind with Hikari-chan. Kurotsuchi noted it but didn't bring it up as she had no problem with the two getting closer. She also vaguely remembered Deidara saying they were together or would be so eventually and found herself thinking it actually would be a good thing for the blond. His sarcastic and somewhat bloodthirsty personality complimented her slight sadism and dark sense of humor. Not only that but their fighting styles meshed well and the two did enjoy each others company, as well as having similar views on many subjects. While the two weren't a couple yet, Kurotsuchi was starting to see what Deidara did. It had apparently just taken a life saving experience to get it started.

Kurotsuchi nodded her answer to Naruto's question and looked at the unconscious boy. The genjutsu she put him under would wear off in a few minutes and then after he cleaned up they'd either leave or stay the night, depending on if Kurai felt up to travel with his wound. She made sure to actually close it up and make it so the hole wouldn't bleed so that Kurai would actually remain himself when he awoke, otherwise she'd have to put him back under because Sin would come out. "He should be up any minute now and if he's up to traveling then we'll make the trip home to report our success. If not then we'll just leave tomorrow morning."

A groan caught everyone's attention as Kurai's eyes flickered open. He rubbed his chest slightly before pushing himself to a sitting position and looking around to see all eyes were on him. He looked down to see he was without his shirt and jacket and that his chest was bandaged before looking up at Kurotsuchi. "Sin was released again?" He asked, his voice the monotone Naruto and Hikari were used to. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"You took a large shuriken to the chest and that got you bleeding. He came out, killed the rest of the bandits and the missing nin before trying to kill Naruto-kun and Hikari. They're fine and I stopped you before you could do anything else. We've just been waiting for you to wake up to see if you felt up for the trip home or to wait for the morning." Kurai nodded his understanding before stretching his arms to return feeling to them before getting off the bed and grabbing his shirt and jacket that were placed next to him.

"I feel fine sensei. We should return to Iwa as soon as we can." Once his clothes were back on he turned to his two teammates. "My apologies for what Sin attempted to do to you." Naruto and Hikari couldn't tell if he was saying it because he meant it or just to be polite as his empty voice betrayed nothing. Hikari just shrugged, already having forgiven the boy since he wasn't in control while Naruto just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'd probably do the same if I lost myself to Kyuubi." The boy didn't respond but merely looked to their sensei to see if she would accept his claim of being well enough to travel. Kurotsuchi eyed him for a moment before nodding as they all left the room to return to their village.

"Welcome home, Hikari-sama." One of the clan servants bowed as the girl walked onto the clan compound and headed straight for her room. It wasn't long since they got back to the village and gave their report. Kurotsuchi had dismissed them and Kurai headed home like usual while neither Naruto nor Hikari actually felt like getting food so they all just headed home. She was sure once word spread about her being home either her father or the elders would call on her, either for a report on what she did on her mission or to inform her of another challenge to her heiress position. As such the girl was not going to even bother telling anybody she was back or doing anything besides going to her room to rest a bit.

To be honest she hated her clan. While she loved Iwa, she hated her clan. There had only been one person she could actually claim to like out of everyone and that had been her grandmother. Since her mother had died in childbirth, her grandmother had stepped in to raise Hikari and teach her about the world and what it was to be a woman. The old and kind woman had never believed in the clans backwards thinking about woman being inferior to men and had passed that on to Hikari. When Hikari's training had begun and she was discovered to be a natural prodigy in just about everything, she had told the girl to always do her best so that when she became clan head, she could change the clan. The elders and more stubborn members of the clan would fight it but the clan was run by its head. The elders were advisory and any who attempted to leave the clan were dealt with strict measures to ensure clan secrets stayed secret, even going so far as to kill if needed. As such Hikari became a headstrong woman that excelled in the shinobi arts and most of the women in the clan either looked up to her (the younger generation of Hanamaru) or eagerly awaited the day she would be clan head so that she could get rid of the sexist policies the clan employed.

Hikari was drawn from her thoughts as a servant knocked on her door to tell her the clan elders had requested a meeting. Hikari scowled as she knew just how much of a 'request' it really was and got off her bed that she had been relaxing in to go see what her most hated people wanted.

"So it's Hikari-chan now, huh gaki?" Deidara asked as he and Naruto sat in a ramen shop eating. Naruto had been confronted by his 'nii-san' shortly after they split from reporting a successful mission to the Tsuchikage and offered some early dinner. The younger blond hadn't been planning on it but agreed anyways so he followed while chatting about random things, like Naruto's recent mission.

"Yeah, so? We're friends, I just saved her life, and she started throwin' –kun to my name so why can't I add –chan to hers?" Naruto asked in between bowls. Deidara shrugged with a slight grin as he ate his own at a slower pace.

"I don't know. I was just messin' with you anyways un." Deidara leaned his head to the side to avoid a salt packet that had whipped at his head, courtesy of his 'otouto'. "So, a question. Do you like Hikari?"

"Huh?" Was Naruto's blank response so the bomber chuckled.

"You know… do you like her at all?" Naruto was quiet and set his empty bowl down as he thought for a moment.

"I… don't really know. I mean, I like spending time with her after training and missions and she's definitely beautiful. You'd have to be blind to miss that. But right now… I don't know. I think of her as a friend but I… I think I could see us getting together one day. If she wants to I wouldn't really have a problem with it I guess. But I don't think that would happen for a while anyways." Naruto answered while another few bowls were brought out for him. Deidara had watched the boy's face silently as he spoke before inwardly nodding to himself. It was there, no doubt at all. The small attraction just hadn't grown into anything serious yet though so he'd wait. Let the kid figure out his feelings on his own before ripping into him with taunts and jokes that would get him flustered and mad. That's what older brothers were supposed to do anyways. "So what about you and Kaa-chan? Still failing to keep it secret?" Deidara choked for a second as Naruto brought up his own relationship that the two were hiding from Onoki. Naruto started laughing at his red face while he worriedly looked around to see if anyone heard him. He knew the blond was trying to embarrass him just as Deidara was waiting to do to him once he got into a relationship. The older blond sighed as that bit of irony hit him.

Oh yeah, that's what younger brothers did too.

"Sir, we've just received a message from the leader of Otogakure saying he thanks you for accepting his proposal to meet and that he will be in Iwa to discuss things with you in two days." An Anbu reported in front of the shortest and oldest kage alive spoke. The small man nodded and waved him off before going back to the paperwork that was the bane of all kage's in existence. He had accepted Oto's proposal of a meeting merely because he wished to see two things. One being what the minor village could want from Iwa. If it was an alliance then Oto would have to offer something beneficial to Iwa or the most he'd do is offer a small non-aggression treaty with the smaller force. That's just how things went, you don't ask the major force for a long term helping hand unless you can offer something to aid them in return. The second reason he had accepted the offer was to see if it was possible to bend the leader to his will. If he could somehow get the leader of the minor village to obey his orders then Iwa could slowly and silently sweep in and take over, thus expanding their influence and the borders of Tsuchi no Kuni. So long as Onoki avoided war, their daimyo could care less how the midget ran his shinobi.

As Onoki turned from his thoughts about his upcoming meeting with Oto's leader, they turned to Naruto instead. The boy was progressing admirably. He was well above his graduating class and most of the genin overall. In pure taijutsu, only the best genin could keep up with him. He also back in the academy would frequently defeat the chunin instructors that were teaching his class. While they weren't experts at the hand-to-hand portion of shinobi combat, it still showed that Naruto could handle himself well in a fight without chakra. Then when chakra was added to the mix the boy became a powerhouse far above his age group. Kage level reserves thanks to his jinchuriki status as well as the deadly and powerful wind element. A shame Onoki was too busy running the village to actually focus on training him in the subtleties of the wind, but seeing as he was only one of three wind users in Iwa and the other two hated the boy it had to happen. He still had given Naruto a few jutsu of the element as well as giving him a basic exercise to enhance his control and ability of it. A step the boy had almost completed. His control of the Kyuubi was currently at three tails in both the shroud and blood cloak versions of the state. Roshi wouldn't let Naruto move up to the next tail until he could fully control and fight in both levels of the tailed state and it was actually a good move. Because while the boy actually never went passed three tails, Roshi had privately informed him that the blood cloak version was significantly harder to control and that Naruto truly could go up perhaps five of the basic shroud and retain control. Roshi just wouldn't let him so that his control would be better overall and to help ensure Naruto wouldn't accidentally draw on too much.

The blonde's only weak point seemed to be his horrible aptitude for genjutsu. If the illusion was too high level or too subtle the boy wouldn't notice and that could cause his death. He knew from a couple small messages with the Raikage in Iwa that a jinchuriki with perfect control was immune to all but the highest level of genjutsu, something only a Sharingan could apparently conjure so as long as Naruto stayed away from the Uchiha clan he'd be fine once he mastered his tenants' power.

However Onoki had plans for Naruto to be even stronger. As the son of the _Kiroii Senko_, he had to be able to learn the technique that was considered the bane of Iwa, it was in his blood. Also, as one of Uzumaki lineage Naruto was going to learn fuinjutsu eventually. Iwa just didn't have many experts and the Uzumaki put them to shame anyways. Onoki knew that there had to be some kind of inheritance in Konoha that the boy was supposed to get, it didn't make sense not to. Now he just had to figure out a way to get them without starting a war and while preventing Konoha from trying to take Naruto back. It was going to be difficult but once he had that inheritance, Naruto would quickly rise to a level only Onoki himself would be able to match. Exactly how he wanted it as well.

For now though he had to focus on other things, like the paperwork. But eventually Naruto would be his greatest weapon. And that was when Iwa would strike. That was when Iwa would destroy Konoha and conquer all threats. When Iwa would rule the continent.

**Omake –** Beginners Luck

"Ha! Pay up Onoki-sama!" Kitsuchi yelled as he revealed his hand of cards. The midget groaned but waved his hand at the pile of ryo that had been building at the center of the table. Sitting with the two were Deidara and a couple jonin all in the kitchen of the Tsuchikage mansion. "I'm on fire tonight!"

"Keep shouting and I'll make that a literal fact." One of the jonin grumbled as he took a swing of sake. The others chuckled while Kitsuchi just ignored him in favor of collecting his cash. As another hand was dealt out they all heard a loud yawn and looked towards the doorway to see Naruto standing there holding his fox plushie while rubbing his eyes wearing nothing more than some pajama bottoms for sleeping in.

"What's everyone yelling for oji-sama?" Naruto asked as he walked in. Onoki sighed while one of the jonin and Kitsuchi scowled.

"We're just playing a card game Naruto. Sorry for waking you. Go back to bed." In all the excitement of possible money, they had all forgotten the boy was sleeping. Luckily Kurotsuchi was on a mission and not set to return for a couple days or she would've tried melting them. Onoki's words however didn't make the boy leave. Rather his attention had been caught by the first sentence.

"A game? Can I play? Please?" The young blond begged. Onoki grumbled under his breath and pinched his nose and was about to say no when Deidara spoke up.

"Sure gaki, but you've gotta have money to play un." Naruto's face lit up.

"I've got some of my allowance left over! I'll go get it!" He then quickly rushed out of the room while everyone was staring at Deidara like he had grown a second head.

"Why the hell did you do that? You know Kurotsuchi will kill you if she finds out you got him gambling at that age." Kitsuchi growled. Deidara shrugged.

"Hey, you know the gaki wasn't gonna leave once Onoki-sama said 'game' so this way he'll get to calm down a bit and when he starts losing his money he won't ever want to play ever again and it'll turn him off from gambling period un. Honestly I think it works better than never letting him try and then one day getting blindsided and addicted to it." The elder blonde explained. While Kitsuchi and one of the jonin got his reasoning and figured it'd be fine Onoki snorted.

"Like the incident with ramen?" Deidara shot a glare at his midget leader just as Naruto ran back into the room holding around fifty ryo. He didn't spend his money much since Kurotsuchi got him anything he really needed or wanted and he received five ryo a week.

"So how do I play?" Naruto asked as he grabbed a chair and sat between Deidara and Onoki. After his nii-san gave him a quick explanation of the rules they dealt out the cards and started playing. A couple rounds of betting and card draws and then it came time to reveal their hand. Deidara and one of the jonin had folded while Onoki, Kitsuchi and Naruto were still in. They all believed Naruto was in just because it had been shown the boy didn't know how to quit.

"Three of a kind. Beat that." Kitsuchi smirked as Onoki threw his cards down and glared at his son. He was about to reach for the money when Naruto cheered.

"I win!"

"Huh?" Everyone looked and then went wide eyed as the boy revealed a flush.

"Wow… uh not bad gaki." Deidara spoke out as all were shocked at Naruto's win. "Well, that means the money's yours un." Naruto beamed up at the older blonde and reached out and took the money before looking at the older men at the table.

"So can we keep playing?" He asked with childish innocence. The others looked at each other before shrugging and shuffling up the deck to keep playing, attributing his win to nothing more than beginners luck.

Later than night the two jonin and Deidara had gone home broke while Kitsuchi and Onoki were pissed. Naruto on the other hand went back to sleep with a huge smile and a thousand ryo. When the story spread that the young blond had cleared out the Tsuchikage and the rest at poker, they were all the laughing stock of Iwa for weeks.


	10. Arc 2 Chapter 5

**Guardian of Destruction:** Thanks for pointing that out but now I'm going to poke holes in Kishimoto's own story. You mention Ame has a very tense alliance with Konoha due to Danzo and Hanzo. Wrong. Jiraiya states in part 2 that Ame is neutral and isolationist to the extreme. Meaning they have no allies or enemies. Yet they have two teams in the exams. This shows that while the exams are _meant_ to be a replacement for war between the countries, it's _**not**_ allies only. Danzo went to help Hanzo in the hopes of _getting_ an alliance but when things fell apart from Nagato's rampage it was broken off.

Not many reviews this time… Oh well, on to the chapter and I hope to get more later.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz<span>

**Chapter Five –** Snake and Bridge

"Take this!" Naruto shouted as he came down with an axe kick to Kurai's head. Said teen twisted his scythe so that the shaft of his weapon took the blow before spinning it around to repel the blond and charged him with an overhead slash. Naruto landed on his feet but quickly rolled to the side as he dodged the blade of his teammate's weapon. With a quick burst of chakra to his legs Naruto was behind Kurai and aiming a punch to the back of his head. The dark haired teen was knocked forward and stumbled on his feet before spinning around to block Naruto's follow up.

It had been two days since their return from the bandit mission and things had been progressing smoothly. Now that the younger two knew of Kurai's other personality they had begun trying even harder to get the boy to show emotions. They still failed granted but neither was going to give up. They didn't really like how one half of him was pretty much a living statue while the other was a psychotic and bloodthirsty zealot. They wanted to get him to strike a balance between the two. Kurai's loyalties and mind but with the emotions that Sin was fine with showing. Kurotsuchi found their attempts funny so she did nothing to stop them but also knew it just was how Kurai was so she did nothing to help them either.

Training had also been coming along the same as usual. Kurai and Naruto would spar while their sensei would help Hikari with her earth element training. Then after a while they would switch to something else that depended on Kurotsuchi's mood. Hikari also had clan training afterwards while Naruto would usually look up Deidara or Akatsuchi for some more training if he wanted it. Kurai would, as always, just head home to do whatever it was he did by himself.

While the boys were battling each other Kurotsuchi watched as she stood a few feet from Hikari who was panting to regain her breath. "Almost… almost done…" She gasped out while she gave a quick glance to her battling teammates.

"Not bad Hikari. Most genin take a year or more to get this far." Her sensei praised, which was true. She had Hikari working on refining her elemental control by doing the first step in mastering the earth element, eroding a small rock into dust and dirt. While she would start with a rock the size of her fist, after channeling her element to it the right way she would end up with a pebble the size of her little finger. Excellent progress for only a few months but still not complete. Still, it showed she truly was the prodigy her clan and Academy grades claimed her to be. "Once you've caught your breath we'll switch to team training alright?" The girl nodded to her sensei before an Anbu showed up nearby and walked over to Kurotsuchi.

"Kurotsuchi, Tsuchikage-sama has requested you and Naruto to immediately come to his office." The jonin kunoichi was confused but nodded her head.

"Alright, we'll be there momentarily." The Anbu nodded and then vanished to return to his duty as his task was done while Kurotsuchi turned to her genin. "Ok you two, that's enough." She called out to get Kurai and Naruto to stop fighting. Both faced her with slightly exhausted looks but waited to see what she called them for. "Tsuchikage-sama needs Naruto and I for something so I want you Kurai to do some sparring or stealth training with Hikari until we get back. Let's go Naruto." The blond nodded and gave his teammates a slight grin but then went after his adoptive mother while Kurai waited for Hikari to walk over before giving her a small nod as he got into his stance. Hikari slipped into her clan stance but then charged Kurai. The last thought in her mind being what Onoki wanted with the two while Kurai didn't care.

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><p><em><strong>Earlier in the day…<strong>_

"Welcome to Iwa." A jonin offered as he stood in front of a hooded man in a tan cloak with a music symbol over his heart while behind him was a white haired teen with two red dots on his forehead. The hooded man merely inclined his head as the jonin gave a slight bow. "Tsuchikage-sama has been expecting you and ordered me to escort you to his office. Please follow me." The man explained before turning to walk ahead of the two. While the hooded man gave no notice and merely followed quietly the teen behind him was constantly looking around as if watching for any threat to his leader. Eventually the two came to the office as the jonin left to return to his post while the Kage's secretary announced them and let them in. With a slight nod of the head the hooded man entered with his young protégé following.

"A pleasure to meet you Onoki-sama." The man spoke and the old Kage nodded.

"Before we begin any sort of talks I'd like for you to remove the hood and introduce yourself. I don't bother with people I can't put faces to." The teen looked like he was about to speak but the man raised a pale hand to stop him.

"But of course Onoki-sama. I have no problems with that request. It's just that I'm quite sure most of your village would've attacked me had my identity been out in the open." He replied as he then took of the hood revealing long black hair and a pale white face with purple markings near the eyes.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin, formerly of Konoha. Yes, my shinobi would've slaughtered you for your part in the Second and Third wars." Onoki spoke with a slightly angered tone but nothing else. He noticed the jonin in the room with him tense but when he didn't give them the order to attack they stayed at his sides, though obviously wishing for the snake like ninja to slip up so they could have an excuse to attack. "Even if you've left Konoha behind, that only makes you slightly more tolerable than the rest of the tree-huggers and is the only reason I haven't ordered you killed where you stand." Orochimaru merely gave a small smirk to the diminutive Kage.

"So it seems. As you've by now realized I am the leader of the new village of Otogakure. Behind me is one of my top shinobi Kaguya Kimimaro, last and only survivor of the formerly great clan in Kiri."

"I had heard the Kaguya got themselves wiped out trying to take over Kiri. Seems like you took the spoils of their attempt."

"Kukuku…. Indeed I did. After all why would I want such a useful and mighty bloodline to simply fade from history? But this is not why I request this meeting Onoki-sama. I've come with a proposition for you and all of Iwa."

"Oh? And what can the mighty Hebi-sennin offer my village?" Onoki asked with a raised brow. He knew all about why Orochimaru had originally left Konoha. His spies had told him all about the man's experiments and how his sensei, the Sandaime Hokage, had cornered him before he somehow slipped from the old man's grasp. If Orochimaru wanted to experiment on Iwa shinobi or anything of the sort Onoki would shot him down and order him out on the spot under penalty of death. A threat he himself would carry out.

"How badly does Iwa wish to strike back at Konoha?" Orochimaru asked, again getting the jonin behind the short man to tense up. "Their belief in their 'Will of Fire' and their peace loving ways… for a while I was under the same belief and spell." Orochimaru mused. "But when it came time to pick the Yondaime all my great deeds for the village were ignored in favor of a young upstart with only two things to his name. Such humiliation I felt at how the village embraced a man that could simply teleport to set locations and hold a ball. But I endured and trained myself, knowing that soon the village would see its errors and I could simply take the spot once they removed the man from it. Then the Kyuubi attack occurred and the man died saving Konoha. I must admit that was the first time I had actually felt fear in so long that I had actually forgotten the feeling. It's also something that made me give my respect to the man, loathe as I am to admit it. But once it was over Sarutobi-sensei once more took office. I could see that it wouldn't last though, how could it when he had already given up the job to a younger shinobi. He had merely reclaimed it to put the village back together from the attack, then he would go over records and hand the title of Hokage to another once again. So I bid my time and waited for him to step down and give me what I rightfully deserved. And yet…"

"It never happened as Sarutobi is still Hokage." Onoki stated, getting Orochimaru to scowl but nod. "As interesting as this is, what's your point?"

"Impatient are we?" Orochimaru chuckled but then continued. "When it became clear to me that sensei was not going to give me the position I began experimenting for ways to improve myself and the shinobi I called comrades. How to maximize chakra reserves, how to become immune to poisons or pain, even jutsu so that we'd have more weapons to use to protect our home. And when it was discovered what happened? I was declared an inhumane monster and chased from the village!" The snake Sannin spat out. "I gave everything in my life for that village and when the one opportunity I've always wanted comes to me it's snatched away by someone who had no right to even look at it! And then when the same opportunity arrives I'm not even considered but rather exiled for trying to find ways to improve my home! So I decided that I would start my own village, one where my work could be appreciated. One that would eventually arrive in Konoha to show them how superior our forces are to there's thanks to my efforts. One that would raze Konoha to the ground and claim its place among the great five!" Orochimaru exclaimed. Onoki narrowed his eyes but couldn't help himself from being interested somewhat. "Now I feel as if the perfect time to do just that is soon arriving. However while my forces are superior in skill, they aren't yet so in number. As such I require allies to embark on my goal. I've managed to convince the Kazekage to lend me Suna's aid as their daimyo continues to cut their funding and instead send the money to Konoha. As such Suna is behind my plan to send a message to their leader and the world that they are not the weakest of the five but one of the best. I figured that with your village's history with Konoha, you'd relish the chance to join our plan and strike down your hated enemies."

"Interesting… very, very interesting." Onoki muttered. "I admit, when I read your request for a meeting I was expecting an alliance request of some sort but nothing of this magnitude. However you have no doubt caught my interest. Give me a basic idea of your plan though before I decide anything." Orochimaru grinned as Onoki gestured for him to continue.

"Surely you know the Chunin Exams are coming to Konoha in but a couple short months?" Onoki's eyes widened as most of the plan fell into place for him right there. "I will enter a team or two that will make it to the finals, as will Suna. Then when our genin make it to the finals, we use that as an excuse to bring a large portion of our forces claiming them to be our protection and that they wish to watch their promising younger generation and then during the finals we strike. In fact, Suna's jinchuriki is even a genin, and the boy is almost guaranteed to be in the finals as he's far more than most chunin to handle." Orochimaru was not expecting Onoki to begin laughing loudly. In fact he was actually confused as to what the man could be laughing about.

"Get me Kurotsuchi and Naruto in this office right now!" Onoki ordered to one of the jonin with him who left in a shunshin to give the message to an Anbu for them to retrieve the required shinobi. Onoki then turned back to Orochimaru with a grin. "I must thank you Orochimaru. I've been meaning to find a way to get Naruto into Konoha for some time to retrieve something for me and you've provided me with the perfect excuse for just that." Orochimaru gave a slightly confused look to Onoki but the old man just smirked.

"And who might these two be?"

"Kurotsuchi is my granddaughter. She's also sensei to Naruto. As for the boy himself, well once you see him I highly doubt any more will need to be said." Orochimaru still looked somewhat confused but nodded while they waited for the requested two to show up. It wasn't a long wait as three minutes later the door was opened and they walked in. Orochimaru eyed the young black haired woman with slight interest before turning to the blond boy with bright blue eyes and three whisker markings on each cheek.

"That's not possible…" He whispered as Onoki chuckled.

"Kurotsuchi, Naruto; meet Orochimaru of the Sannin and apparent leader of the new minor village of Otogakure. Naruto, please give Orochimaru your full introduction." Onoki chuckled as he looked at the disbelief written on the snake ninja's face. Kurotsuchi was instantly on guard once Orochimaru's name was mentioned while Naruto just shrugged and looked to the Sannin with a blank look.

"The name's Namikaze Naruto, jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko and one day the destroyer of Konoha." Orochimaru didn't bother looking at the boy once he finished but instead scowled towards Onoki.

"How? Sensei sent him to some civilian village on the border and I admit when I left Konoha I searched for the boy myself to train. How did you get him?"

"Oh? So you wanted Naruto?" Orochimaru nodded with a glance to the boy. "A team of my jonin was cutting through Hi no Kuni on their way back from a mission when they stumbled upon a small clearing that had apparently been used as a battlefield. Within this clearing were two Konoha Anbu as well as a jonin holding a blood soaked blanket. In that blanket was Naruto. With the jonin was a scroll that explained who and what he was so they brought him here and I decided to have Naruto raised and trained specifically to take out Konoha one day. He's been under Kurotsuchi's care ever since and is now one of the top genin in Iwa." Orochimaru let out a chuckle before turning to Naruto.

"So it seems Kakashi's love died to protect you from Danzo's men. Tell me boy, do you know your affinity? And are you any good with a sword?" Naruto raised one of his arms and channeled chakra into the gauntlet to bring out the blade while giving the man a blank look.

"Wind. What's it to you snake-face?"

"You will respect Orochimaru-sama!" Kimimaro snapped as he glared at Naruto who merely glared back. Orochimaru held a hand out to his subordinate as Onoki told Naruto to back off.

"That's enough Kimimaro." The Sannin scolded lightly before looking back to Naruto with a sickly grin. "Oh such missed opportunities. Had I gotten a hold of you before this village did I would've made you my apprentice." He mused before looking back to Onoki. "I can see why you thanked me earlier. You want the Uzumaki clan items as well as whatever Minato left for Naruto am I correct?" Onoki nodded with a grin that Orochimaru mirrored. "Well I can tell you that Sarutobi-sensei has them under his control and has been making sure that Danzo and the Konoha council doesn't touch them. He believes that one day Naruto here would someday be found and brought to Konoha where he will try to reverse his mistake from those years past. Meanwhile in the shadows under sensei's watch Danzo still has teams searching the continent for the boy."

"Thanks for the warning and heads up." Naruto quipped as he put his blade away and walked over to Onoki's side. "Was there a specific reason sensei and I were needed Oji-sama or are you just showing me off?"

"Kurotsuchi, do you believe Naruto and his teammates are ready for the Chunin Exams coming up in Konoha?" Onoki asked getting Naruto to go wide-eyed before grinning. Said kunoichi was also grinning as she came to realize what her grandfather wanted.

"Definitely. Kurai and Hikari are just as ready as Naruto-kun is and I can guarantee they'd make the finals if not sweep the whole event." Onoki nodded and then turned back to Orochimaru.

"I'm not sure if I can devote anything to your plan yet Orochimaru but I will send a team to the Exams so that Iwa can partake if I decide to. None of us will alert Konoha either so if I find that I cannot aid your plan then I will make sure none of Iwa's shinobi hinder it either. You'll have my final answer by the time of the finals."

"Then I thank you for you time Onoki-sama and look forward to a positive answer." Orochimaru replied before placing his hood back up. With one final glance towards Naruto he left the room with Kimimaro trailing behind. Naruto and Kurotsuchi watched him leave before turning to Onoki, both silently asking for answers.

"He's planning an assault on Konoha during the finals of the Chunin Exams along with Suna and their jinchuriki. Whether Iwa decides to aid him or not, I need you Naruto to make it to the finals so that I have an excuse to go to the village and then force Sarutobi to hand over your inheritance. Once you have anything your Uzumaki mother left you, you will start learning fuinjutsu as that was the clan specialty. Anything of your fathers will also be a top priority for you to learn so that you can turn Konoha's greatest weapons against them. That will be the ultimate blow to their moral I believe. Watching the son of their hero use the fathers moves against them." Onoki concluded with a smile. Naruto grinned as did Kurotsuchi and the jonin behind the small Kage. "Now before you leave I have a mission for your team. It comes from a rich business man that needs something destroyed to keep his business afloat. His business has recently decided to invest in Iwa if we can accomplish this for him. Details are in the scroll so back your bags. You're headed to Nami no Kuni." Onoki ordered as he tossed a scroll to Kurotsuchi for both to give him a short bow before leaving to do as they were told.

* * *

><p>'<em>How very interesting… that Minato's child would end up in the hands of his most hated enemy. And not only that but the boy is a wind element with some blade skill. Oh yes, had I the chance he would've made the perfect apprentice.'<em> Orochimaru mused to himself as they left for Otogakure. While Orochimaru was known mostly for his snake like ninjutsu thanks to his ties to the creatures, due to his holding of the summoning contract for them, he was a wind element of extreme skill as well. His first apprentice, Anko, was actually an earth element so he couldn't pass down most of his skills to the girl which is why he decided to instead test her in other ways such as the curse seal. She also never took to a sword very well which eliminated the best of the snake style of close combat he utilized. While he was still loyal he figured he would eventually take on a second apprentice when the girl hit jonin and this new one would hopefully be able to learn all of his legendary skills. After the Kyuubi attack he had wanted to take care of Naruto, believing he, like a few of the clans apparently could raise the boy into not only a loyal Konoha shinobi but a powerful one at that. After Sarutobi told them all of what he did the snake Sannin had sent a few of his summons out to try and locate the child to raise and train in secret so that when he became Hokage like he believed he would, he could reverse his sensei's decision and bring Naruto back home where he belonged. Yet they never found him just as he never became Hokage. When he was run out of the village for his deeds, he had spent the first half a year looking for Naruto before being approached by the Akatsuki with an offer of membership. Things had gone from there but he never expected to find Naruto. And in Iwa's hands no less. The man was positive that if his training was even half as good as what he himself would've given then Naruto was already at least Chunin level in skill.

Orochimaru let out a smirk hidden by his hood as he suppressed the need to laugh. Oh how he hoped Naruto made it to the finals of the Exams. Just so he could watch and see the true potential Minato's child had. Perhaps there would be a way to get the boy under his wing from Onoki if he proved worth it. Not as a vessel like Kimimaro or the last Uchiha were candidates for, but as the next legacy for the great Sannin's teachings.

* * *

><p>"So were headed to the Chunin Exams after this mission?" Hikari asked as the three genin and one jonin left the village. Naruto grinned and nodded which was soon mirrored by the girl. "Sweet! Only half a year and I'm already heading for the Exams. If I actually succeed then that's a clan record for fastest promotion and youngest chunin. That oughta shut the bastards up." Hikari boasted as Naruto let out a sharp laugh. Kurai merely nodded as Kurotsuchi went over the mission details.<p>

"Worry about the Exams I'm entering you three in after the mission." After a quick 'Hai sensei' she continued. "Alright apparently the employer is the business tycoon Gato of Gato Company. He apparently has a hold over Nami no Kuni and one of its people is building a bridge which would break it. He tried hiring someone to take out the head builder but they failed and were killed by Konoha ninja. Knowing our village has a grudge against them he decided to hire us to stop this bridge from being built. We'll be meeting with him first to discuss specifics but then we will make a plan and carry the mission out." The three genin nodded so she put the scroll away as they leapt off.

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><p><em><strong>Five days later…<strong>_

"So you're what I get from Iwa huh?" A short man in a business suit in a cane sneered as he looked over the genin and sent a hidden lustful look towards the jonin, though as shinobi all four saw it. They also noticed one of his hands was broken apparently. The four genin were in an office speaking with Gato about the mission he hired them for. The office was in a private mansion Gato had built hidden on a cliff that the people of the country didn't go towards so while he had run and holed himself up after his failure he was still safe since he had a few bandits left along with one of his ronin guards. "Well I guess since Zabuza failed against a man and his brats you could do the same to them."

"Just tell us what's going on and we'll get it done. My team has a perfect mission completion rating and we will not fail." Kurotsuchi told him. Gato looked them over again before scoffing and pulling out a small file.

"I have this country under my thumb since as a shipping country it requires the docks to send out goods. As I now control all the ships in those docks, I've pretty much become the man in charge rather than the daimyo. However this man, Tazuna, is building a bridge to Hi no Kuni. As you can guess, with a bridge they won't be forced to rely on my ships and will be able to break my control. I've tried intimidation but he and his workers didn't stop. I've sent an assassin against him; he hired Konoha ninja to protect him. I tried to remove the ninja but my assassin failed and died in the attempt. I even tried using some paid off bandits to kill of the exhausted ninja but that failed as well. I'm out of options so I figured Konoha's greatest enemies would be able to take care of this situation. It doesn't help that ever since my men failed against the ninja the people have gained hope and began partying every night in their honor." Gato explained. "What I want is for the bridge builder dead and the people's hope crushed so they'll never try this stunt again. Nami is mine now and that's final!"

"Do you have a description of the Konoha ninja?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"A tall man with white hair and one red eye, a young girl with pink hair and green eyes, a pale boy with black hair and eyes, and another boy with dark hair and eyes that've been both black one time and red another. He also has this symbol on his shirt that looks like a red and white fan. Why? Are you going to get rid of them to?"

"Would we get a bonus?" Naruto quipped as Kurotsuchi shook her head.

"No, I just want to know who we're possibly dealing with and from the sounds of things it's Hatake Kakashi, a couple no name genin and possibly the last of the Uchiha clan." Kurotsuchi mused before sending a look to Naruto. "You made sure to pack that hooded jacket right?" The boy nodded as he knew what she was getting at. "Then use it. It wouldn't do good for Iwa if they knew about you. As for the mission, this'll be simple once the Konoha ninja leave."

"But by then the bridge will be finished and everything ruined anyways!" Gato raged. "I don't want that thing done you hear me?"

"But you do want their hope crushed right?" Naruto spoke up, getting the midgets' attention as well as Kurotsuchi's. "Hear me out. Hatake Kakashi is not someone we want to go up against. Plus I'm pretty sure that both he and the people know that since you escaped alive you may try something again so they'll still be on guard. Plus, if we did somehow kill the bridge builder, it's likely his workers would finish it anyways in his name since from the looks of things, that thing was almost done already. We'd only have a couple days to kill him before it wouldn't matter. So rather than target the man, why not target the hope they all have?"

"What're you saying?" Gato asked so Naruto grinned.

"What I'm suggesting is we wait for the bridge to be finished and the Konoha ninja to leave. Then we swing in, grab the bridge builder and kill him while destroying the bridge at the same time. This will not only send the message that even their mighty bridge was actually useless to stop your reign but also that he one that gave them hope was just as powerless. That'll break their spirits so that they'll never try to oppose you again." Gato stared at the boy for a few seconds before looking to his jonin sensei to see she was grinning at his idea.

"Heh, you know what, that actually sounds better in the long run."

"And so long as you agree to invest in Iwa like you promised in the mission request afterwards, we'll make sure that's exactly what happens." Kurotsuchi then waved to her team to leave as Gato nodded with a sadistic smirk growing across his face. He actually liked these ninja compared to the last one he hired.

"Okay you three, keep yourselves hidden and spy on the town, bridge and kids with Hatake. I'll watch over than man myself since he's far above you. Also, remove your headbands so that if you're spotted, they won't trace us to Iwa and we can use some bullshit story about being travelers or something. Naruto, make sure to keep your face hidden at all times." The three nodded as they took off their headbands and sealed them away. At the same time Naruto took of his jacket and sealed it into a scroll while also pulling out an identical one with a large hood. He quickly pulled it one while also flipping up the hood, leaving only his mouth and the very edges of his whisker marks visible on his face. Kurotsuchi nodded and then pointed to a wooded area near the mansion. "That will be our rendezvous point. Return at sundown understood?"

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><p>'<em>So these are considered Konoha genin?'<em> Naruto muttered in his head as he was hiding on a rooftop looking down as a boy wearing a blue shirt and white shorts was walking around town with a girl in a red one peace following and talking to him. On the boy's back was an insignia of a paper fan, the top half being red while the bottom was white. The girls' bright pink hair was also an attention grabber but he ignored that since he found Hikari more beautiful anyways.

…Wait… Where'd that thought come from?

Shaking his head of the thought Naruto focused in on the two to see that the boy was walking with an annoyed scowl on his face and his hands in his pockets. The girl either knew him very well, didn't notice, or didn't care about his obvious annoyance as she continued to talk to him in a very loud and annoying voice talking about how romantic it was that they saved a country and how they should go on a date as well as other related subjects. Naruto actually had to hold back a grimace as he watched them. _'Oh dear Kami-sama she's a fangirl!'_

Fangirls were not tolerated in Iwa's Academy. If after the second year of shinobi training they still persisted then they were forced into harder training until they both started taking their career choice seriously and dropped the act or they quit. Naruto himself actually had a couple fangirls for the first couple years. Which was surprising to him as at the time he was still trying to figure out how to act to get the haters to leave him alone so he was mostly a ball of energy that occasionally pranked people. And yet a few girls had thought he was hot and cute as well as funny and charming, which was another thing he thought was weird as he hadn't even spoken to these girls before so how would they know his personality? But after they were forced into the tougher training to literally beat the fangirl out of them so to speak, most had dropped it and instead became some silent admirers while taking their studies seriously. Only one had actually dropped out and she still tried hounding him for a couple months until he began developing his sadistic and sarcastic streak that seemed to drive her off and turn away a couple of the ones still wanting him in the Academy.

'_Thank Kami-sama Hikari-chan was never a fangirl. In fact I remember her trying to maim them every time we had sparing practice. Screaming about how they were 'fucking disgraces to women everywhere' if I remember right.'_ Naruto thought to himself as the girl kept pestering the boy. _'He's either used to this or actually likes her. I'm guessing the former though.' _The blond sighed as he turned his attention to trying to figure out their skills. _'From the way the guy carries himself he seems to have some skill. But his hunched over look and scowl just scream brooder and superiority complex even from this far back. So he's either one of the best in Konoha and as such thinks he's the best everywhere or he's just extremely overconfident. Either way, if it comes down to it I think I'd enjoy putting him down. As for the girl… I doubt one of our third year students would have trouble with her.'_ Satisfied with his assessment of the two genin Naruto gave a quick look around before running off the rooftop and heading towards the rendezvous point.

* * *

><p>'<em>So this is where the bridge builder lives? Not much for the now proclaimed local hero of Nami'<em> Hikari thought as she looked over the house. She was hiding in the trees a far distance from the building as she looked out for any signs of trouble that could come when it came time to pull of Naruto's plan. All she could see though were two boys on the porch, one being a brown haired child with a white bucket hat while the other was a very pale white boy around her age with black hair. The younger boy seemed to just be looking at the view with the occasional glance at the pale one who was just painting a picture on his lap. _'I'm guessing the kid is somehow related to the bridge guy, likely a grandson or something while the other would be one of the genin under Hatake's command. From how he looks I'd say he's either nothing or pretty good at hiding his skills. Though that tanto on his back is worth noting.'_ It was then that a tall woman with dark hair came out and spoke to them briefly before the two headed inside with smiles, though the ninja's was obviously fake to anyone that saw it. _'Huh, guess that's the little brats' mother. And what was up with that false grin? It was actually kind of creepy. Still, if this is where they're all staying then I don't think there should be much problem once the Konoha ninja leave. Oh well, back to Naruto-kun and the others.'_

* * *

><p>'<em>I was right; it is Hatake Kakashi, the man with an implanted Sharingan eye.'<em> Kurotsuchi scowled as she looked on a the jonin lazily reading an orange book while also keeping an eye on an old man with gray hair directing bridge workers. _'And apparently his perverted readings tastes weren't just rumors either. Not that it matters, I think I've seen oji-sama hiding one of those books in his office once. We really will have to wait until the Konoha ninja leave. I may be A-rank like Hatake but I know I can't exactly fight him on even ground thanks to his eye. Plus with all the water here he could counter my Yoton easily enough. He may have thought it up on the fly but Naruto-kun's plan looks like the best so far. Which is extremely surprising considering his planning ability is so poor.'_ Kurotsuchi made sure to memorize everything she could about the habits and mannerisms of Kakashi and Tazuna before glancing at the sky and seeing that the sun was starting to set and the bridge workers were starting to finish up for the day. _'Time to return to my students I guess.'_

* * *

><p>"So anything of interest?" Kurotsuchi asked as the team reconvened in the clearing and set themselves up for the night.<p>

"One of the genin is nothing more than a fangirl and I checked the crest another has and yeah, it's the Uchiha clan meaning that one survivor apparently." Naruto then scowled slightly as he thought back to his spying on the town and genin. "The girl has bright pink hair, green eyes, and wears a red and white one piece but doesn't seem to be anything worth noting anyways. The Uchiha kid has dark hair, dark eyes, a blue shirt and white shorts. He seems like he may have some skill but from what I've gathered is either very confident or very arrogant about what he can do and who he is. I'm willing to be he'd be a challenge for one of our weaker or average genin but is spoiled in Konoha to the point he believes he's the best." Kurotsuchi nodded and then turned to her other two so Hikari spoke up.

"I checked out the bridge builders' home and found that there's a kid and woman living there, likely a daughter and grandson given the ages. The third Konoha genin was there and he's very pale, almost pure white, with black hair and eyes and black clothes. He was silent and just spent his time painting something on in a book on his lap as he kept watch on the others at the house. While I can't say anything about skills or personality, he had a tanto on his back so that's something."

"I scouted the town and while under henge as a traveler that just arrived inquired about the town and recent happenings." Kurai began once Hikari finished. "The town was completely under Gato's thumb after he killed a man a year ago by the name of Kaiza. It was only recently that this Tazuna seemed to get the idea and funds together to make a bridge. He was only a third of the way completed when Gato started threatening him to stop. And he did, only to sneak off to Konoha and use what money he had left to hire the team he currently has. When Gato discovered this he apparently hired a missing nin with a large sword from Kiri but the man and his helpers died fighting Hatake's group. Gato apparently tried using a small army of bandits but the genin and Hatake tore through them and the villagers, seeing that Gato wasn't truly invincible rallied and drove him out, though they are unaware he is merely hiding in his mansion. They believe he has fled for another country and took his belongings with him. Konoha is now revered as a village of saviors with Hatake's group being the personal heroes to the country. Tazuna is also being hailed as a local hero and the man that never let hope die in the country." Kurai concluded as Kurotsuchi nodded.

"Alright then, well make sure to keep an eye on the Konoha ninja to ensure our location isn't discovered while also developing a plan to bring down the bridge. Then once they leave we'll spring our trap and kill Tazuna while destroying the bridge to the point it can't be rebuilt." Naruto grinned as they had decided to go with his plan. He had really just thrown it out there and was actually surprised they put so much faith into it. _'Maybe my tactics really are improving?'_ He thought to himself.

"**Nope, you just got lucky."** Kyuubi shot out, breaking his good mood. **"I think that's your one good idea for the year and I'll be stuck bailing your ass out for the rest of it."**

'_Oh fuck off furball. You couldn't let me have one little moment?'_

"**No, because then you'd start strutting around like you're the best and I don't feel like healing all your injuries when someone beats the shit out of you to prove you're not."** Naruto sighed but didn't comment. Kyuubi never let him have any sort of accomplishment without shooting either it or him down.

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><p>The next few days passed slowly as the Iwa shinobi waited for their chance to complete their mission and deal a proverbial slap to Konoha. During the time they watched the Konoha group as well as the bridge Kurotsuchi had devised a way to take out the bridge. She had decided then that she would be the one actually doing that part with the help of some explosive tags from her genin. Meanwhile Naruto, Hikari and Kurai would be in charge of grabbing the bridge builder and ending his life in a public area in a demeaning way so as to ensure that the message from Gato was sent; he rules Nami and nothing will change that. So when the day for the bridge to be finished finally came, the whole Iwa group was giddy with excitement. They saw as all the villagers gathered at the bridge to wish a fond farewell to their shinobi saviors and from their hiding spot under the bridge they could hear cheers for them and well wishes all for them as well. It was when they peaked out and saw that the Konoha shinobi were almost the entire way across the bridge and the villagers getting ready to disperse that they struck. Making sure his hood was still in place just in case Konoha turned around, Naruto rushed out.<p>

"The Mighty Leaf Bridge… It has a sort of ring to it doesn't it?" Tazuna asked as the villagers let out cheers for the name choice. They happily watched their saviors leave and were going to head back to their homes when a voice rang out from seemingly nowhere.

"Don't leave yet, the part hasn't finished." Everyone spun around to see three teens around the same age as the Konoha kids, save for one being a couple years older, standing side to side a few feet away where the Konoha ninjas had been mere minutes ago. Even more shocking though was that Tazuna was on his knees in front of them with a kunai to his throat when he had been next to them just moments before. The two with their faces visible had on headbands with a rock symbol, signifying their allegiance to Iwagakure. The one on the right was a girl wearing mostly black clothes with purple hair. The one on the right was the older one and he had black hair and black gray eyes. The one in the center though was wearing a hood that covered his face, save for a sadistic grin as he was the one holding the blade to Tazuna's neck from behind as the old man was wide-eyed and kneeling before him. The hooded boy whistled as he looked around at the bridge they were one, seemingly admiring it and ignoring the shouting of the villagers to let Tazuna go or cries for the Konoha ninja to come back, not that their voices could reach that far. "Wow, this is some bridge. You know, Gato actually said something about it being a work of art if I remember." Naruto casually commented. While Gato said no such thing, instead referring to it as an abomination, it helped set the mood by telling them who they were working for as well as lowering their hopes in that their troubles were over.

"Let Tazuna go you bastard! Gato's gone now and can't do anything now that the bridge is done!" One of the villagers yelled though none made any move to save the man since they knew Tazuna's life was currently in the balance. Naruto glanced at him before looking to his teammates and shrugging.

"True this wonderful piece of art is finished but false about Gato being unable to do anything. You see, Gato hired us to tell you all a message, and a message we shall tell." Naruto started as Hikari picked up where he stopped.

"Nami is his country to do with as he pleases. If you don't like it, he'd be happy to provide you with a VIP ticket to the afterlife like Kaiza and the others who opposed him."

"His rule over this land is not over merely because of this construct of stone and metal." Kurai added as Naruto grinned and made a half ram seal with his free hand.

"As Gato said this bridge is something of a piece of art. Well in the immortal words of my nii-san; Art is a bang!"

A large explosion went off, the sound carrying for miles. As did the cries of Nami's people.

* * *

><p>Well everybody, this is one half of Arc two for you. Now I'll be turning back the clock and telling this tale from Konoha's point of view. So look forward to that as I start to show some of the changes that happened in Konoha since Naruto wasn't there at all. As you can already tell the Uchiha massacre still happened and Danzo has men looking for Naruto while Sarutobi holds Naruto's inheritance away from those who would abuse it. Other than that though, the mighty village has been kept a mystery for all of you to figure out on your own. The next chapter will be a bit but then I'll start showing and revealing some of that mystery for you all. So please review and favorite!<p> 


	11. Arc 2 Chapter 6

**grimangel163:** Which is why I'm going with different. If I wanted to just have Naruto do the mission the same way as it was done in canon with the only difference being that he's from Iwa now than what's the point? First off, how would Nami hire Iwa for the mission if they blew the last of their free spending money trying to get Konoha to help them? And secondly, why would Iwa help when they found out Konoha was originally involved? So instead, Gato hires Iwa since he learned they're Konoha's enemies and he wants to send a message to both Konoha and Nami. Also my Naruto isn't all 'selfless-hero' like canon is. Sure he'll risk himself for his team and people he cares about, but the average random sob story won't even make him blink in their direction.

**KidChaos69:** Thanks for suggesting that outfit. I actually like the idea so I'm actually going to use it partially. Just my own version since I don't want to flat out copy that one.

**Forever Fallen76:** True they would be but with enough time and expertise they could be pried open which is why Danzo wants them. I mean the secrets of an entire clan plus one of the most powerful shinobi since Madara and the Shodai, that's just demanding to be used and Danzo wants to use it for himself and the village, no matter how long it would take to actually break open any security measures on them to actually do so. Also, as for the three that can use Hirashin, I agree that they likely have something on them that prevents them from spilling the secrets of the technique. Plus while Kakashi and Jiraiya likely have a basic idea of how it works, I doubt they actually know and could do it otherwise they likely would.

**Gento70:** In canon, yes he did die by Zabuza's hand after the battle on the bridge. However as this obviously isn't canon, I've made it so that Gato survived that encounter to hire Iwa for help. You'll see how during the coming chapters.

**Luiz4200:** Well look at it this way, Onoki and most if not all of Iwa hate Konoha. As such, even though they could send genin there for the Chunin Exams, they likely wouldn't bother and would instead ignore them in favor of waiting for the next one in six months. Plus while Onoki was looking for a way to get Naruto to Konoha to get his inheritance, he was trying to think of some stealthy way to do it. And finally, when you're trying to solve a problem, it's usually the most obvious answer that eludes your notice and consideration until an outside mind brings it up. So combine their hatred of Konoha, their ignoring of the Exams, and Onoki's original plans on somehow being stealthy and it becomes obvious as to why he never thought of simply sending Naruto to the Exams.

**Yukilumi:** Thanks for the review. You're probably the first to give me such an in depth review for any of my stories and I gotta say it's nice, so thanks for that first of all. Now my defense of my actions because you brought up many valid points. The pointing out his different character development instead of just going and letting the reader figure it out themselves; your right in that I do that a lot. My reasoning is that I prefer reading stories where things are for the most part clear and with as little plot holes or misunderstandings possible. As such I write exactly as you pointed out, I'll either flat out say it or give a small example later that does so instead. To be honest I wasn't realizing I was doing it so much, but my reasoning is it helps people understand the character better if they learn of the 'whys' behind an action sooner than they would if I just let it go for a while. I'll keep it unknown 'in story' to the other characters but to the readers it will be either flat out told or referenced enough that I won't need to say it.

The OC romance; yeah it was mostly obvious that Hikari would be paired with Naruto once I introduced her since I said no fillar or Konoha girl that only left a few options or an OC. As I mentioned in an earlier chapters' review response I wanted to try my hand at a NaruOC so I purposely set it up that way. At the same time, this is honestly my first story where I'm actually trying to make an in depth romance between two characters. I don't count my one-shot since it was meant to be short to begin with and my Kurai Kitsune and Souru Chixeen stories aren't really to that point yet so I count this as the first. As such I'm using my own fledging experience in real life along with ideas I've gotten from reading romance in other stories, both regular and fanfiction. Meaning that while some will be original, a lot is going to feel like it's been seen before elsewhere. I'm doing my best to make it original and make it realistic instead of just shoving them together but some of it is still going to feel or be clichéd.

As for you feeling Kurai isn't too important, that's actually right on the money in my opinion. I've purposely made him seem that way. All the reviews I've gotten about currently are either 'hooray, a Jashinist in Iwa' or 'oh no, another overpowered OC'. In reality though, I want him to be the sort of guy that while he comes off as important, he can just flit around the background without anybody noticing or caring until his real purpose comes up and then attention is focused on him. That's not for a very long time though so the fact that you feel he isn't much right now means I'm portraying him exactly how I'm wanting to. These last couple chapters delving into him were mostly so people knew a bit about him before I make him 'fade' out of the spotlight so to speak.

You mention that you like how I continue to mostly drive forward with the plot with little to no background info, well that's both on purpose and not my fault. I haven't given out a lot of info on other things because either Kishimoto has left little to nothing in the source material or because it won't be important until later so I see no reason to delve into it. I've put some work into Iwa but since Kishimoto hasn't released a lot about it, I'm mostly going off my own personal ideas which mostly aren't going to be bothered with until later on, as such it seems like I'm not putting much into the background and just continuing with the current most pressing story part, the plot.

My little jump into Orochimaru's plans and thinking was my own way to expand on his character a bit. Plus I honestly think that if Naruto was actually intelligent when they met in the Forest of Death, the Hebi Sennin may have actually considered him as a pawn/minion/apprentice opportunity or such instead of just writing him off as a failure and waste of time. Even if Naruto only had clones at that point in canon, if he was intelligent enough to use them correctly or in conjunction with traps and taijutsu combos, then he would've overwhelmed all the other genin there no problem. But instead he was, and still is, an idiot for the most part.

Don't worry about me not killing anyone off. To be honest I think what Kishimoto is doing right now is extremely stupid. I mean, how do you have a war where none of the good guys die? We've seen a couple injuries but not a single death or even a real 'close-call' yet. It's just so stupid and unrealistic that a war can happen where only the bad guys or nameless nobodies die. I actually plan on having a few deaths, especially during the Invasion. In fact, a little spoiler here, Naruto himself will kill off one of the Konoha genin with a smile in the Exams. Not saying who or why but he will and it will drastically affect the rest of the genin as well as the future storyline.

And lastly, your comment on my title; I know. I was just running out of room in the summary or I would've put 'the Crimson Devil of Iwa'. But with the character limit I had to settle for 'Iwa's Crimson Devil' instead. When the name actually comes up in the story it will be the same as the title and marked correctly so don't worry about it.

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><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz<span>

**Chapter Six –** A New Team

"Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama is here to see you."

"Send him in." Replied an old voice to the woman's announcement. Sarutobi sighed and placed his pen down as the man walked in, covered mostly in bandages save for a single eye and using a cane to walk was Shimura Danzo. Once rival and friend to Sarutobi Hiruzen, when Sarutobi was chosen as Sandaime Hokage instead of Danzo it left the man bitter and angry to the point that their friendship had all but vanished, instead being replaced by a fierce battle of wits and political arguments of which neither was sure was the original aggressor and yet neither cared. While Sarutobi followed the ideals of his two predecessors and teachers, the Shodai and Niidaime, Danzo opposed them. The conflict was as simple as it was endless. Peaceful negotiation with force as a last resort versus using force to ensure safety and power. Both had their ups and downs which led to their arguments as both believed their way had the better perks and more acceptable costs.

The worst argument between them though had come just twelve years ago, directly after the Kyuubi attack. Sarutobi had sent the newly born child who had become the newest jinchuriki to the biju away from the village. Danzo saw this as both an insult and the biggest risk to Konoha's security Sarutobi could make without simply opening their gates and telling their enemies to destroy them outright. Without a well-trained jinchuriki in their forces, how could Konoha defend itself against the jinchuriki of other villages? While Danzo had wanted the boy to be under his direct control, even he knew that keeping the boy in the village to be a normal shinobi was a better option than sending him away. And yet Sarutobi had made the worst possible decision for Konoha and Danzo had laid into him for it. To the point that even the old Hokage himself regretted the decision and agreed to have him brought back to Konoha. But it was already too late as the child was missing and had never even made it to where he was supposed to be sent. Danzo capitalized on Sarutobi's weakness to discreetly push through a few motions for his Root program that otherwise would've been shot down while making sure to have a few of his teams on permanent search detail for the child. If he had fallen into the hands of Konoha's enemies then he knew the village's destruction was almost a guarantee.

"What can I help you with today Danzo?" The aged Kage asked with a strict voice. Danzo kept his face emotionless as he came up and took a seat before the man's desk.

"The new genin have just graduated, have they not?" Danzo asked rhetorically. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes but said nothing as he wanted to see what his former friend wanted first. "What is to be done with the last Uchiha?"

"He will be placed in a team like the rest and then placed under Hatake Kakashi's care as he is the only one left in the village that could teach him the secrets of the Sharingan." Sarutobi explained. "The only problem is deciding who to place as his teammates as there were a lot of prominent clan heirs in this class, as you know, and their parents are making suggestions for their team placements." Danzo nodded his head slightly as he knew that himself. Although he could technically argue against Kakashi being the only Sharingan user left in the village, he wouldn't do it as nobody knew of his implants and revealing them was not worth the trouble it would cause compared to the gains.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this class one graduate short of making enough full three genin cells?"

"You're not wrong. What's your point?" The Kage had narrowed his eyes at this point as this was where Danzo would make his move and reveal his demand.

"I'm offering one of my men to stand in as a genin to be placed on the Uchiha's team. As the last of his clan it will be up to him to rebuild it for Konoha. As such he must be protected and trained extensively. While I'm sure Hatake can achieve both objectives splendidly, he must divide his attention between three students. As such, I'm offering one of my men to stand in as a genin. You may let Hatake know this so that he can instead focus on the other two while my agent aids in keeping the Uchiha safe while Hatake trains him in his bloodline and other areas." Danzo's proposal actually had no true bad side to it. At least at first glance. Sarutobi on the other hand knew better.

"I specifically remember Itachi telling both of us that Sasuke is to be left alone in the regards your thinking or else our village's secrets will be revealed." While the threat was more towards Danzo than Sarutobi, the old Kage had said both simply to avoid Danzo trying to counter-argue him.

"I know what you're getting at and I will be leaving him alone. My agent would be there just as extra protection to ensure his safety. I've read the psych profiles on the boy and can tell you that only the most extreme conditioning could change him. I'm not inclined to waste those resources even if he is the last of his clan." Danzo admitted. This casual jab at Root without actually revealing it irritated Sarutobi as he knew he couldn't use it to shut his program down but the Kage held his tongue and pulled out the file with the graduates information papers on them. Honestly, Danzo was actually right in this instance in that Sasuke was going to require extremes to change his thought process. While the boy seemed loyal to Konoha and would obey orders from his superiors, he also showed arrogance to the highest level due to civilians spoiling him in the hopes of getting at his clan treasures. He also had an attitude problem and refused to work with anyone unless absolutely necessary. Honestly if it wasn't for the fact he was the most skilled student since his brother the Hokage wouldn't have authorized his passing. In fact he was still tempted to deny it and place him on the reserves under observation until his attitude improved. However since the Kyuubi attack, Konoha needed soldiers out in the field.

"Bring this agent here so that I may evaluate him and decide whether or not to accept your proposal." Sarutobi sighed out. Perhaps he could have Kakashi keep an eye on this 'genin' and maybe the Hokage could use him as a gateway to exposing and subsequently shutting down Root. Not likely but possible. And if not then at least Sasuke would have a bit more protection so that he could eventually rebuild his clan for the village.

* * *

><p>"So do you hope we're on a team Sasuke-kun?" A girl with pink hair asked as she sat next to a boy with dark hair and a blue shirt with white shorts. On the back of his shirt was a fan where the top half was red while the bottom was white, the clan symbol of the Uchiha clan. The boy, Uchiha Sasuke, was ignoring the girl in a red and white one piece with dark blue spandex shorts as she continued talking and trying to get a date or something out of him. He had no idea why Haruno Sakura or any of the other girls in his class seemed to love him and follow him around since he had never paid them any attention and had once actually degraded and spoke down on them for being disgraces to kunoichi as they never bothered with training and while that got one or two to stop chasing him the rest whined that he didn't mean it and continued as if nothing had happened. It irritated Sasuke to no end but he knew that he'd get in trouble for attacking them so he just went back to ignoring them in the hopes they'd leave him alone. Which was not the case.<p>

He sat in the front next to a window with Sakura chatting in the seat next to him as he and the other graduates waited for their sensei to come in and tell them what was going to happen next since they had completed the genin exam and were now shinobi of the village. Nearby were the other clan heirs that had passed and honestly he only had mild respect for them since they (somewhat) took their training seriously.

There was Inuzuka Kiba with his small dog Akamaru. Kiba wore a baggy hooded gray jacket most of the time while Akamaru was white with brown ears. Sasuke would silently admit the guy was good in taijutsu, being the only one to give him a good fight, but outside of that and his clan specialty of tracking, Kiba was somewhat slow which led to poor grades. Not dead last poor but not top ten either, just average in the intelligence portion of their career choice while excelling near the top in the physical side of it.

Next to him was Aburame Shino wearing his usual high collared gray jacket and sunglasses. Shino was strange in that he almost never spoke and he never seemed to show emotion. Sasuke knew from his brother and father when they were around that the Aburame used insects in their jutsu to track and drain an enemy's chakra. Not frontline fighters of any sort but very skilled support units in Konoha's forces. Sasuke respected Shino because he took being a shinobi very seriously and always did what appeared to be his best, though he had a feeling the boy might've been hiding a few things, as such Shino was the fifth in the class though Sasuke was sure that if his hunch was right and Shino was hiding things then he'd have an actual rival for the top spot.

Farther back sitting next to one another were Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Choji. Shikamaru was wearing his regular short sleeved jacket and had his hair in its normal pineapple ponytail style as he slept at his seat, like always, while Choji had a shirt with the kanji for food on it and was snacking on chips, again like always. While Shikamaru was technically the smartest in the class, he was so lazy he never showed it. Sasuke knew his clan could manipulate shadows for various things and were renowned geniuses but he had trouble seeing it with how lazy the boy was. Choji on the other hand was the only student physically stronger than him but that was it. He was slow and too much of a pacifist to truly be a threat in his mind. The Akamichi could manipulate their body size through some secret clan jutsu for various attacks but other than that Sasuke didn't see any usefulness in the clan of 'big-boned' ninja.

A couple seats behind him was Hyuga Hinata, the dead last of the class. She was wearing her usual beige jacket and had her dark blue hair styled in its normal way while her pure lavender pupil-less eyes were locked on her desk as she tapped her fingers together. Sasuke knew that she, like all of her clan, had a dojutsu called the Byakugan which allowed them to see chakra and even the tenketsu of a person's chakra network. In conjunction with their clans prized taijutsu style, the Hyuga could easily shut down an enemy's ability to use chakra and even paralyze or kill them with a tap of the fingers. However as skilled and hailed as the clan was, Hinata was none of that. She was shy and had confidence issues that people only knew stemmed from something in her clan. In fact the issues were so bad that she didn't believe she could do anything and it had only been by the bare minimum that she had passed her graduation exam. Sasuke respected her clan as they were rivals of the Uchiha since both held mighty dojutsu's, but he didn't respect Hinata herself at all because she was weak. He was thankful however that she apparently wasn't acting like a love-struck fan girl over him like just about every other girl in their class was.

Glaring at the girl next to him from across the room was Yamanaka Ino, the other of his two most obsessive fangirls. She wore a purple top and skirt with bandages wrapping around her chest and legs to cover up and had her blonde hair in a long ponytail. She, like the rest of her clan, could use jutsu that would allow her to enter a persons' mind and control them at will. While a powerful and admittedly frightening skill, Ino had not trained anywhere near hard enough to be such a threat since she chased after Sasuke with such a single minded-possessiveness the boy wondered how she could even be a ninja.

And finally was the girl next to him, Haruno Sakura. The girl was from a civilian background meaning as a shinobi she was a blank slate. She had no outstanding traits that would lead her towards any one section of the ninja arts but at the same time that could be a blessing since that meant she could pursue whatever interested her. However that was the problem. The only thing that interested her was Sasuke himself so she never trained or did anything to become strong and only did enough to pass her graduation test and that was it. She was quoted of being highly intelligent but she had none of the skills to back it up. While Sasuke couldn't understand how Ino could be a ninja, she at least had a clan to back her and aid her. The boy couldn't understand how Sakura even lasted past the first year of Academy work.

Everyone's eyes snapped to the door as it opened and in walked the two chunin that had been teaching them for the past four years, Umino Iruka and Mizuki. The two smiled at the class before taking their place in front of it. Iruka gave a small speech about how he was proud of them and that they were now brothers-in-arms before Mizuki stepped forward and began announcing that they would be placed in three man squads underneath a jonin for more training. He was about to continue when there was a knock at the door and in walked a pale white boy with black hair and a black outfit that made him look like he was either in or trying to emulate Anbu. Since he was their age, everyone assumed the latter. "Hello, my name is Sai and I have been sent here for team placements." He spoke in a clearly false cheer with a just as obvious fake smile. Iruka looked over a few papers to see that he had received a small message from the Hokage about Sai's late addition so he nodded and told the boy to take a seat before Mizuki cleared his throat and continued with team placements.

"Team One will be…" He began as the students started listening for their names and hoped to be placed with their friends or crushes, whatever the case may be. "Team Seven is Sai, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura." As soon as this team was announced two things happened. Very loudly, Ino shouted in despair as Sakura cheered about getting with Sasuke while the Uchiha cracked his knuckles and had to resist the urge to bang his head on something. Sai merely glanced at the two before returning his attention to the chunin senseis. "Quiet down!" Mizuki shouted to get Sakura and Ino to silence themselves before picking up where he left off. "Team Eight is Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. Team Nine is still in circulation so Team Ten is Akamichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. That's all the teams. You have an hour for lunch but then return to this class to meet your jonin sensei and begin your time training together as a team." Iruka added a few words of his own before everyone left the class, most to eat and get closer to their teammates while Sasuke went off on his own before Sakura could follow and Sai watched him from the shadows. His orders were very clear.

_The Previous Day_

"_So you are named Sai?"_

"_That's correct Hokage-sama." The young boy answered as he stood before the village leader. To his right was a man in the standard Konoha jonin outfit but with a half mask that covered his nose and mouth and his headband tilted to cover his eye. This was Hatake Kakashi, who had been called to meet the boy that would be working underneath him as additional aid and protection for the last Uchiha._

"_Before I give you your exact orders, I need to know what you are capable of and where exactly your skill level lies." Sarutobi asked with narrowed eyes as Kakashi watched Sai with his one eye._

"_I am skilled in stealth and infiltration type missions mostly. I am decent in taijutsu, specifically kenjutsu using my tanto. My main skill though is with my ink ninjutsu that allows me to bring my paintings to life to attack and defend. I can also record and send messages with my jutsu or even fly when the situation demands it. My abilities are overall valued as a high chunin or low jonin in skill level." Sai explained. While there was a little more he could do with his jutsu he was told by his real leader, Danzo, to give out a lot of what he could do but keep some skills to himself for when they would be needed if his hostile take-over of Konoha had to happen._

"_I see. Kakashi, do you have any opinion or anything to say?" The Kage asked as he turned to his jonin. The white haired man shook his head so Sarutobi turned back to Sai. "Then that will be all. Sai, your mission is to act as a genin and insure the safety of Uchiha Sasuke and your other genin teammate. While out on the field you will follow Kakashi's instructions no matter what they may be. Keep your true skill level hidden from your teammates unless the situation demands otherwise. Am I understood?"_

"_Yes Hokage-sama." He responded while comparing the orders to his orders from Danzo, which weren't that different, only adding that he should kill the Uchiha if he shows the slightest of traitorous thoughts as Konoha couldn't afford to any other village to gain the Sharingan._

* * *

><p>The class was back together as the students were now sitting in their teams and talking with one another as they waited for their assigned sensei's to show up. For the most part things went quickly. Sensei's showed up in the order of teams so shortly after Team Six was picked up Sakura and Sasuke prepared themselves for when their sensei would arrive. That would not happen though as a beautiful young woman with black hair and red eyes came in claiming Team Eight. Though confused slightly about the change in order the genin she requested left with her as the rest waited for their own. Since they were told Team Nine was still in circulation from the previous year they knew Ten or Seven would be next. When a bearded smoking man with a sash for 'Fire' tied to his waist walked in and claimed Team Ten, Sasuke and Sakura were starting to get annoyed and confused as to the whereabouts of their sensei. Pretty soon all the teams were gone save for theirs as they waited in the classroom alone. Sakura took the time to attempt to ask out Sasuke, only to fail like always, as Sai sat by himself in the table behind them and painted a picture to pass the time.<p>

Three hours after the designated pick-up time the door finally slid open and Kakashi poked his head inside. "Team Seven I presume?" The three looked to him, one emotionless and the other two annoyed and slightly confused. Sakura was about to yell at him for being late but Kakashi spoke up again, interrupting her attempt. "Well then, meet me on the roof in five minutes please." He then vanished in a puff of smoke without waiting for their responses. Sasuke grunted but got up to meet their tardy sensei as Sai cleaned up his painting supplies and followed quickly. Sakura was still staring in shock at where the jonin had been before realizing her teammates were leaving her behind and shaking her head clear while rushing after them.

The three children were soon sitting on some steps in front of Kakashi as he leaned on the roofs' railing before them. "Okay you three, from today on I'm your jonin sensei. Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other now? Say your name as well as any likes, dislikes, hobbies or dreams you may have." Sakura raised her hand so Kakashi nodded to her so she knew she had permission to speak.

"Why don't you go first so we know how it's done?" She asked, Sasuke and Kakashi staring at her in disbelief as Sai was indifferent.

"Wow, and you were quoted as being smart. What exactly was hard to get from what I said?" Kakashi openly insulted. While this wouldn't have happened normally, losing Rin and his sensei's son at the same time twelve years ago and then being unable to find the baby for those twelve years had left him somewhat jaded and cynical. He was still a loyal and intelligent Konoha shinobi, who also read porn in public and generally dismissed the questions of others with an easy indifference, but he had also developed a very slight attitude for those that couldn't handle the simple or the obvious. Sakura looked ashamed and slightly angry at the man's response as Sasuke smirked. "But fine, I'll go first. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like my books, the village and dogs. I dislike the incompetent and a few people within the village. A hobby of mine is reading my books while one of my dreams is to surpass my sensei and do him proud. Now why don't you go next pinky?" Sakura glared at him for the new nickname but went along with her introduction anyways.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, not pinky. I like Sasuke-kun and my family while I don't like Ino-pig or the other girls of our graduating class. Other than Hinata though, she's alright I guess." Sakura added as an offhand thought before getting back to her introduction. "My hobbies are reading and dieting to keep my figure while my dream is to one day have a large family and settle down after a successful career as a Kunoichi. Hopefully with Sasuke-kun." She muttered the last part but all three still heard it and said boy shivered. While he wanted to revive his clan after killing his brother, he wasn't going to do it with any weakling Kunoichi or useless yes-man, or woman as the case was. Kakashi nodded before pointing to Sasuke so he sighed but started his own.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like a lot of things and I dislike lots more, but I will say I hate fangirls like Haruno and most of the graduating Kunoichi are." Said girl just swooned muttering something along the lines of he 'didn't really mean that' getting both emotion feeling males to sigh at her obvious stupidity and denial before Sasuke continued. "My only hobby to note of is training and I don't have a dream but an ambition, because I will make it happen. I'm going to kill a certain man before rebuilding my clan." Kakashi nodded as it was what he expected before pointing to Sai so the boy gave his false smile and began speaking with the false cheer that creeped his teammates out slightly.

"My name is Sai, no surname. I like the village and tofu. I dislike threats to the village. My hobby is painting and I don't have a dream." He was short and to the point so his two teammates were confused though Kakashi expected something along this path as he had met the boy and been told who trained him. To be honest he was surprised the boy could truthfully admit to liking and disliking something as doing so meant emotions, and emotions were beaten out of those under Danzo. Perhaps the boy was lying, or maybe Danzo didn't get rid of his emotions as thoroughly as he thought. Kakashi just again nodded while making a mental note to tell the Hokage of this before speaking to his three students.

"Good, all three of you are unique with your own goals and personality. Now, tomorrow we'll have some training to see where your skills lie before beginning missions. So meet at Training Ground Seven at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Ja ne!" Kakashi called out before vanishing in another puff of smoke. The three stared at where he was for a moment before Sai got up to do his own thing (secretly watch the Uchiha for any signs of possible traitorous thoughts as well as assessing a possible skill level for the boy if he decided to train) as Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, want to go on a date with me?"

"You're annoying." Was his reply before he got up and left with his hands in his pockets for his clan compound so that he could train some more. Sakura sat there depressed for a moment before shaking her head and forcing herself to believe he was just joking and didn't really hate her and going home. He just meant all those other girls since she wasn't a fan girl, she was his 'true love'. At least that's how her mind put it. She had to believe that for her sanity's sake.

* * *

><p>A week had passed since that day and the team was coming along as nicely as it could get in Kakashi's opinion. Since he didn't have to really do any training with Sai other than teamwork drills to make sure he could work with the other two he was able to focus on their training. He had given Sasuke a few drills that could enhance his physical strength and speed while aiding him in his fire jutsu and he had also taught Sakura a couple genjutsu. He wanted to teach her more but she complained at the slightest training the moment she got exhausted, which was quite quickly given her lack of doing any real training beforehand combined with her dieting. Sasuke had come to see Sai as something of a rival as during their group spars the boy revealed he was strong. While Sasuke was better at taijutsu, the boy could beat him in anything else. Though he didn't know or even catch on to the fact that Sai was holding back in their taijutsu spars as Danzo had told him to let the Uchiha feel superior in something so that he could satisfy his ego and would be both less likely to go rogue and more likely to work willingly with Sai. The Uchiha had also begun considering a sword as he had seen how effective Sai was with his tanto and was thinking that perhaps he could work with a blade as well, though Kakashi had told him to wait and improve in his other studies before attempting it so that he'd be strong enough to fallback on his original style in case a sword failed to fit in.<p>

As for how well the team worked together, they did so decently. There were some problems but they weren't breaking issues in the long run. Sakura would usually drag the team down a bit due to her poor stamina but that was improving slowly. She'd make far better and faster improvements if she started training seriously but she refused to. The only other issue was Sasuke's small resentment of Sai for being stronger than him. While it was small and hardly noticeable at times it was there and made the Uchiha act impulsively in an attempt to show the boy up occasionally. While Sai and sometimes Sakura could compensate for his impulsive act and keep things going smoothly, it didn't always work so they did fail at a couple exercises. Though overall the team was running smoothly and Kakashi's only complaint was Sakura's fangirl act and having to go along with having one of Danzo's agents so close, even if the boy hadn't done anything to show he had ulterior motives or orders.

"Team Seven here for a mission Hokage-sama." Kakashi chirped as they entered the mission room, his nose deep in an orange book called _Icha Icha Paradise_. The aged Kage looked over the team before nodding and giving them a scroll for another D-rank before they headed out to complete it. While Sakura was fine with D-ranks since they were easy and got her some extra pocket change, Sasuke was starting to get annoyed with them. He was an Uchiha, one of the elite. Plus he was the strongest of his graduating class, he didn't count Sai since the boy hadn't actually gone to class with them and had just been brought in to balance out the teams apparently, so the D-ranks got on his nerves. They weren't missions, they were glorified chores. Sai didn't care either way as he was trained not to and had also been on more dangerous missions before so one without the risk of danger was a nice change of pace, if only he had the feelings to actually enjoy that fact though.

* * *

><p>This became the normal routine for them as the days past. Soon enough a month had past and their teamwork and skills, at least in Sasuke's case, had improved enough that Kakashi felt safe in getting them a C rank mission. "Team Seven reporting for duty Hokage-sama."<p>

"Ah, Kakashi, here for another D rank I suppose?" The old Kage asked with a small grandfatherly smile to the students. Sasuke hid his scowl at the thought of more chores while Sakura simply smiled and Sai had his fake smile on. Kakashi however shook his head.

"I believe my team is sufficiently trained enough for an easy C rank Hokage-sama. Are there any available?" Sasuke let out his smirk while Sakura's smile stayed the same since she was happy he said he believed them to be trained enough for the next level. Sai's smile however dropped as he went into a focused expression since C ranks were where the possibility of danger began to show up. Sarutobi looked over the students before nodding and motioning for the chunin in the room to let in the client. Once the door was opened the smell of sake assaulted the noses of the people in the room as a man in brown clothes with a straw hat and a bottle of the drink walked in.

"Huh? This is what I get? A one eyed guy and his three brats? The girl looks like she'll drop from a little wind." He commented as he took a swing from his bottle. Sakura was glaring at the man hoping he'd drop dead on his feet while Sai was running over possible scenarios in his head that could involve the man before the Hokage spoke up.

"Tazuna here is from Nami no Kuni and has requested protection for his trip home and for the duration of the building of his bridge that would connect our two countries. You would be gone for about a month or so." Kakashi nodded and then motioned to his genin.

"Alright you three, you heard Hokage-sama. Pack for at least a month long trip and then meet at the main gate in one hour." The genin nodded before heading out the door as Kakashi walked up and took the mission scroll from the Hokage and led Tazuna out so that they could wait for the students.

An hour later and Kakashi was walking up with Tazuna at his side as his genin were waiting for him. Sakura let out a shout of surprise at the man actually being on time to which he only chuckled before asking to see his students packs, since it was their first C rank he wanted to make sure they had their priorities straight. "Lets see, clothes, spare weapons, some blank scrolls and bottles of ink… for your ninjutsu correct?" Kakashi commented to Sai as he went over the supplies in the pale boys pack. Sai nodded so Kakashi went back and only counted a couple other things like a sketch book and spare book likely for his personal art rather than his weaponized versions. He then looked through Sasuke's and only had one comment to make. "Sasuke, why isn't there a basic first aid kit in here?"

"I don't plan on getting hurt so I have no need for one." Kakashi sighed.

"No one does but accidents happen. And what if your teammates are hurt and need medical attention?"

"Then they aren't worth my time and should be taken off my team." Kakashi sent him a mild glare a made sure to get his focus with a quick flaring of his killing intent on the boy.

"That's not how it works Sasuke. Konoha shinobi work with their teammates because it's only together that we are truly strong. You don't have to like them or get along with them really but you will work with them and will help them when the situation calls for it. Next time you will have a med kit in your supplies or I'll be taking you off the mission and not them." The boy scoffed but nodded his understanding as Kakashi handed his pack back to him before looking at Sakura's. And after a single glance he handed it back to her. "No, go home and try again Sakura."

"What? Why? What's wrong with it?" She asked, outraged that all the time she spent packing was being shot down as wasted. Kakashi gave her a glare worse than the one he gave Sasuke.

"All you packed are clothes, shampoo's and soaps. Not a single bit of shinobi gear at all. What do you expect to be doing Sakura? Relaxing at a resort?" The girl looked down and muttered something about '…her best' and 'Sasuke-kun' so he shook his head. "If you want to die on the mission then go right ahead with that. But if you want to be a real kunoichi you'll go back and pack right. Meaning only a few spare clothes and then spare shinobi gear like extra kunai and shuriken, as well as a med pack." He added at the end with a small glance at Sasuke. The boy ignored it as Sakura slumped home to re-pack while the rest waited peacefully for her to return. It was twenty minutes later when she did and after a second check to see that she did it right they left for Nami no Kuni.

* * *

><p>They group was walking down a worn dirt path with Tazuna in the center. Kakashi was at the back reading his book while simultaneously keeping an eye on their surroundings while the genin were to his sides and front. Sasuke kept his eyes on the road hoping for some kind of action to prove himself as Sai, though making it seem like he was lost in his own world with his fake smile, was keeping a very watchful eye on everything to make sure nothing would become a threat to them. Sakura was just moping silently over how Kakashi had called her out on her packing and made her do it again.<p>

As the group was walking they soon came to a puddle. While Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna took no notice to care about it Sai and Kakashi did. Sai glanced back at Kakashi to receive a shake of his head so he subtly nodded and turned back, though he kept his senses sharp and ready to react. They barely took ten steps away when suddenly Kakashi was wrapped up in chains from behind. With a sharp tug he was torn to pieces by the chains as standing near his back were two cloaked shinobi with breathing masks on and slashed Kiri headbands. "One down…" One muttered as he and his twin rushed forward.

"Four to go!" The other finished. Sakura was scared stiff as Tazuna dropped his sake bottle. Sasuke pulled out a shuriken and threw it, catching the chain between the two in the middle of a link and pinned it to a tree with a kunai follow up. He then rushed in and kicked both in the face. Before they could recover they were suddenly restrained by what seemed like snakes made of ink. They looked up to see Sai crouched down with an empty scroll and a paintbrush in his hand. Their attention was drawn back to Sasuke as he pulled out two kunai and took aim at their heads.

"Who the hell are you two and why'd you attack us?" He demanded. The tied up ninja scoffed as Sasuke growled.

"Like we have to answer to some punk ass genin."

"Then how about an A-rank jonin?" Cam a voice to their left as they all, Tazuna and genin included (other than Sai), turned to see Kakashi standing there and staring at the chunin with a blank gaze. Sakura and Sasuke looked back to where he died and were relieved somewhat to see a chopped up log that signified he had used a Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to escape. "You two are Gozu and Meizu, chunin rank missing ninja from Kiri known as the Demon Brothers. Since I highly doubt the two of you were hired to try and take out someone extremely above your reported skill level, why don't you spill the beans before I force you to." Seeing the jonin alive and well after they thought they killed him shook the two up so they quickly confessed everything, from working with Momochi Zabuza to being hired by Gato to kill Tazuna. They then pleaded for their lives but Kakashi silently walked up and then lashed out with a kick to knock them both unconscious.

"It seems this is much higher than a simple C-rank mission Kakashi-sensei." Sai commented as he went over options in his head. The jonin nodded before turning to Tazuna and flaring his killing intent on the civilian man.

"Alright Tazuna-san, no lies. You knew something like this could happen didn't you? Why didn't you ask for higher ranked protection?" Tazuna gulped in fear.

"All of Nami's spare cash went to supplies to build the bridge, all we could afford only amounted to a C-rank so we had to take our chances." He then took a deep breath before trying to explain everything and hopefully keep them with him. "We would have paid more but we couldn't. I'm sorry but Nami is going to die if we let Gato keep control of it. I had to take the risk and hope either Gato wouldn't send anyone or that you'd stills stay with even knowing I lied about it. Please, if I die then Nami dies with me. Our people are suffering and my bridge is our only hope."

'_If this were any other team…'_ Kakashi thought as he sent a discreet glance at Sai. "Alright, team vote. Continue or leave? If we leave we doom his country, if we continue then you may lose your lives and if that happens the country still dies." Kakashi shot out before turning to his genin.

"I say we go for it. You just said you're A-rank, that should be enough since scum like this Gato guy doesn't seem like he'd pay for S-rank help. What rank is this Zabuza guy?" Sasuke asked.

"A, like me. It'd be pretty even between us under most circumstances." Kakashi admitted. Sasuke then smirked.

"Then with us three as back-up it should be in our favor. Let's go." Sasuke's confidence was possibly going to get them killed, Kakashi thought. But he knew Sai was still holding back and was in reality close to special jonin so if all else failed he could order the boy to get serious. Knowing Sasuke's decision he faced Sakura and saw her scared look. Apparently she didn't think she could do it or that they could survive. However she still nodded her head in agreement with Sasuke as it seemed her fan girl tendencies towards the boy were overriding her common sense, again. After this mission was over he'd have to try and break her of that otherwise she was going to die on a mission at some point. He then looked to Sai to see him with his blank, serious face.

"Shinobi conduct claims we should abandon him and his country to their fate as we have been lied to. We also do not have the resources nor skill level to complete this mission if the likes of Momochi Zabuza are added in to the parameters." Sai said, admitting to Kakashi's own worries had this been a normal team. However Sai then continued speaking. "Yet Nami no Kuni is supposed to be a major economic hub in the world. If Gato's hold over the country was to be broken, it could return to that status and then Konoha could use this mission as an opening to obtain a trade agreement that would better the village and country. I believe the risks are worth the potential gain sensei." He finished off with his fake smile. Kakashi actually nodded his head as he hadn't thought of that but now that it was mentioned he could see it being a major boon to Konoha that would help fix the last of the fallout from the Kyuubi attack.

"Alright then Tazuna, it looks like you still have us for the mission."


	12. Arc 2 Chapter 7

Sorry this took so long but first real life was hectic as all hell then my means of typing broke down so I had to get a new way to do so. I now own a laptop so I can type far more often, which you've likely seen if you follow me for more than just this story. Since I can type much more now, I figured I'd go ahead and put out a few other ideas I've had before they leave me or I misplace my idea notebook, which happens more often then I care to admit. Still, now that I'm typing more and have for the most part put out the stuff I wanted to, I decided to come back to one of my two greats, the other being my Kurai Kitsune story.

Last chapter seemed to be mostly received negatively. I got a couple nice review but most just said it was nice but unnecessary, and not all were that kind about it either. I get what everyone's view is since I didn't really change much from canon other than Sai replacing Naruto and a few attitudes like Kakashi's and slightly Sasuke's. But in my defense, it's easier to get it out of the way now rather than have to waste that time in a later chapter doing the same thing only from Naruto's perspective, which would be biased and limited as well as not knowing everything. It may not get everyone to forgive me and I doubt you'll all just go to liking the chapter now either but I still feel it was necessary. I always planned on doing the Nami arc from both points of view, after all, if I just had put what I did in the end of chapter 10 I'm sure I would've gotten reviews asking what happened and all that. So rather than just write up the portion of the Konoha's dealing with Nami, I decided to fill out a full chapter for some of it and finish it up this chapter. I can safely say that you won't have to deal with this much longer as Nami will finish this chapter. Then there will be one more before I move onto the Chunin Exams that everyone's waiting for. I feel I should warn you though, while the story will stay focused on Naruto, much like canon it will go off every once in a while to show what's going on with other characters, whether its for a few paragraphs or a couple chapters.

Now onto specific review responses.

**Yukilumi: **Again, I'm very happy you have a lot to say. Now to actually answer you. First, Sarutobi actually in canon did disband Root. In shippuden, Jiraiya makes a remark to Tsunade one chapter that Danzo's program was supposed to be shut down and she shoots back that officially it was under the Sandaime and he's running it from the shadows. The reason Sarutobi or her didn't simply kill the old war hawk was because while they knew, they couldn't produce any evidence to actually make a case against him and as a prominent member of Konoha's military, simply offing him wasn't an option. They wanted Root gone because in their minds they saw that it made more problems than it solved and that the training of its troops was inhumane, which was actually correct on both accounts. Root caused Kabuto, they cause Pain, they nearly caused the Fourth war with Danzo's attempt at manipulating the Gokage Summit to his advantage. Danzo and Root believe they are doing the best for Konoha but while they stopped a few problems without a doubt, in their wake they left even larger threats to grow unhindered.

Now for Hinata, first off her standing in the class has never been revealed. We don't know if she was close to the top or bottom but I'd place her closer to the top personally. But now I placed her as the dead last in the last chapter. Before you go off on everything, let me list off why. In canon she was pressured by her responsibilities of her clan so much she cracked and became a withdrawn and shy individual with an inferiority complex. It was shown multiple times that she literally believed she couldn't do it, no matter what it was. She tried and made progress plenty of times and improved, but her first reaction was always 'I can't do it, what do I do?' She admits in canon that she drew the strength and courage to try from watching Naruto and his never say die attitude. But now, I've taken that away. Naruto's in Iwa, how's he supposed to indirectly encourage Hinata to do anything? Her father and clan wrote her off as a failure when she cracked and started focusing on Hanabi, who was excelling. So with her clan feeling she's a failure and nobody to encourage her, indirectly or otherwise, how was she to draw the courage to try? I was trying to keep the general feel of Konoha pretty close to canon and I feel that if Hinata hadn't started trying to emulate Naruto then her own feelings of inadequacy would've dropped her pretty damn low. That's why she's dead last here in this fic.

**GodShadowEX: **You claim Naruto seems weak for the 'weapon' he's supposed to be. I've also put in an earlier chapter that Kurai was a better fighter than him while Hikari was better at stealth and tracking. Plus he seemed to be struggling a bit in his fight first with the Suna jonin and then against Kurai's alter ego Sin. So I can definitely see where you're coming from and how you can back up that claim. However, Naruto is not weak. Not in the slightest, in fact he's the strongest on his team. As a jinchuriki or 'demon weapon' his true worth would be as a loyal Shinobi that can unleash the full might his contained biju against the enemy he's placed against. Well Naruto has very good control over the power of Kyuubi and is entirely loyal to Iwa and more specifically to Onoki, Deidara and Kurotsuchi in particular as he views them as family. Naruto has yet to use Kyuubi's power though as he likes to enjoy his fights and using that power pretty much guarantees an instant win. Not only that but Naruto is somewhat arrogant in his combat ability and as such holds back further to give his foes the hope they can beat him just for him to stop holding back and crush them. As for Kurai being the stronger fighter, yeah in tai- and kenjutsu only and that's only because of experience. And as the Shinobi equivalent of a fire-and-forget missile he doesn't need stealth so he wasn't trained much more than necessary in it. So it's not that the boy is weak, it's just that he enjoys holding back too much and it costs him at times. That habit will be broken by the arc after the Chunin Exams though so soon he'll start being the unstoppable badass Iwa meant for him to be. He won't be invincible of course as I dislike those kind of stories mostly (I like when he has a tough time and we can get a good fight out of his challengers), but outside of Akatsuki or the Sannin, enemies on his level will be few and far between.

Anyways, here's the new, extra long chapter for you all to indulge in, which closes up the Nami arc.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz

**Chapter Seven - **Waves of Despair

Kakashi sighed as he watched Sasuke and Sakura run up trees. It had been two days since they arrived in Nami and things weren't looking so good. Immediately after arriving they were attacked by Momochi Zabuza. The white haired jonin had fought the man as hard as he could but ended up being trapped. It was only because Sai showed more of his skills hat Kakashi managed to get out and then force the ex-Kiri ninja down. Yet before he could kill him, a hunter from Zabuza's old village came and stole the kill. Or at least appeared to as shortly after leaving with the nuke-nin's dead body, Sai recalled that the hunter had completely disregarded protocol That led Kakashi to deducing that it was really an extraction for Zabuza, meaning the man was most likely still alive and would come back. As such, Sasuke and Sakura needed training. So after staying with Tazuna for the night, Sai was assigned to guard the man while Kakashi recovered and oversaw the training of his other two genin.

Hence the pair running up trees. The exercise was simple in that it was merely channeling chakra to the feet to provide a stick that would let them run on vertical and even upside-down surfaces. Simple, yet effective for genin of their level and a vital skill that needed to be learned eventually. Sakura had actually gotten it right away, however Kakashi still had her doing it in order to increase her reserves. The one time she tried complaining for rest and felt she did enough, the jonin had ordered her to get back to work and even tossed shuriken at her when she at firs refused. Now she had only stopped to catch her breath before obeying when Kakashi said she had enough and made her work again. She was not going to die because she wouldn't train hard enough now, Kakashi was making sure of it.

Meanwhile Sasuke hadn't needed any motivation at all. Rather he just needed to be told to rest every once in a while as he was relentless in trying to make I to the top of his tree. The Uchiha heir was very angry after things had calmed down from Zabuza's attack. The reason? Sai had been holding back. Sasuke had thought they were near equal and with a bit of hard training he could overtake the pale boy and regain his spot on top. However, Sai had been holding back, quite a bit actually. That meant Sasuke was actually farther behind than he thought and it enraged the young boy to think of how far he had to go to catch up to Sai. If he couldn't even stay ahead of his peers, how could he ever surpass his brother? Thus Sasuke's relentless and endless drive to master the exercise and then whatever else Kakashi could give him. He had to get stronger to first beat Sai and then he could work on beating Itachi.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Do you really think you guys can kill that Zabu-fella next time he shows up?" Tazuna asked as he was taking a small break from working on the bridge to have his lunch. Next to him was Sai, who had an empty book open and was sketching the workers as they did their jobs.

"The odds are in our favor Tazuna-san. Not only have I yet to use my full arsenal, Kakashi-sensei's injuries were far less than those of Zabuza. As such, even if Zabuza returns with his false-hunter ninja, we hold the advantage and they likely realize the same." Sai responded without taking his eyes off the picture he was working on.

"By the way, why were you holding back?" The bridge builder asked, curious as to why someone would hide their apparent skills.

"The way of the Shinobi is the way of deception. Thus, by holding back my full strength, I can use it at a later date to catch a target off guard and eliminate them." The pale boy explained with his fake smile. Tazuna nodded before a man came up, taking off his cap with a solemn look.

"Hey Tazuna, listen… I think we should stop working on the bridge."

"What? Haji, why?"

"Well, cause Gato will kill us if we don't! He's already sent somebody after you and you got lucky. Plus not everyone has ninja protecting them." Tazuna looked down as the man kept ranting. "Seriously I don't want to get me or my family killed and I know you don't want anyone to be hurt either so lets just stop all his nonsense and let it go."

"I think you've said enough Haji, I get it." Tazuna started as the man smiled lightly while the old man stood. "You don't have to come in for work tomorrow Haji. We have more than enough men to finish the bridge without you by now." The man's face dropped as Tazuna spoke.

"Listen Tazuna-"

"Enough." Tazuna interrupted before glancing up at the sky and sighing. "I think that's enough work for today anyways." He muttered before walking off to tell the rest that they could go home for the day. Haji stared for a second before gaining a depressed look and walking off. Meanwhile Sai had watched the entire thing with a blank look before packing up his supplies as it seemed his charge was about to leave.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You all should just leave! You're just going to die anyways." Tazuna's grandson ranted. The boy, Inari, wore a white bucket hat and suspenders while having brown hair and a pessimistic look at everything around him. Including the ninja of Konoha and his grandfather's bridge. He was ignored, despite his shouting, as this was the same thing he had said every night since they had arrived. Tsunami, his mother, and Tazuna had both told him to stop but he had simply replied that why should he because it was true.

Sasuke glanced at him while he ate before going back to his food without even giving the boy the traditional Uchiha grunt, the little brat wasn't worth even that in his mind. Sakura sighed but otherwise kept eating without complaint as she was getting annoyed with the child but was too polite to do anything. As a jonin, especially one that deal with Maito Gai on a basis like he did, Kakashi simply tuned Inari out and read his book as he finished eating. Sai didn't react in any manner, as he neither cared about Inari or what he said.

Inari however had been getting angry over the week at how the ninja had been ignoring him. In his mind he was trying to save their lives by making them leave. And yet they ignored his repeated warnings and went on as if everything would be fine. It infuriated him. Didn't they know that heroes didn't exist in the real world? Well he wasn't going to be ignored anymore, he knew a way to get them to listen. He singled out Sai for his plan since to Inari, the pale boy seemed like the weakest, which meant he logically would be the one to listen first. Inari got up and walked right up to the boy as he sat and finished his meal before shouting at him. "Stop ignoring me and leave! Gato's just going to kill you!"

"Inari!" Tsunami cried out. However everyone went silent at Sai's reply.

"I'm surprised at how many cowards live in Nami no Kuni. I would've thought they'd all have run away by now." The boy's tone was purely conversational, as if he had just commented on the weather. On top of that, he had on his obviously fake smile. Inari looked shocked before growling.

"Oh yeah? And what do you know?"

"I know that giving up and hiding won't solve your problem." Again Sai's response was given in a purely conversational tone while he had on his fake smile.

"What, do you think you're some kind of hero? Well heroes don't exist!" Sai tilted his head to the side before continuing.

"I nor my comrades ever said we were heroes. We're simply people hired for a job, same as Tazuna-san. When I entered the Shinobi program, Danzo-sama told me and other recruits that heroes are the people that put aside everything they are to provide the greater good for their cause. Many Shinobi of Konoha do just that every day. Your grandfather does that now with his bridge. And from the stories I've heard around town, a man named Kaiza did so a few years ago." Inari flinched back at the mention of Kaiza as Tazuna lowered his head. "However heroes are held back by cowards that try to get them to quit or go away. So many of this village and Nami have already proven they are cowards as they've given up and allowed themselves to be forced under Gato's rule. Therefore, it's up to the heroes of Nami to put aside their fears and doubts and work for the greater good." Inari couldn't take it anymore and ran off towards his room upstairs as both Sakura and Sasuke were looking at Sai in shock as that was the most he had said at one time.

"Kid, thank you." Tazuna spoke up before taking a drink of sake. "I doubt he'll listen right away, but in time, when the bridge is done and we're free of Gato, he'll realize you're right. That Danzo fellow who taught you that, he knew what he was saying." Kakashi looked to Sai with a critical eye before going back to his book. Perhaps Sai's emotions weren't completely gone after all.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright you three, I'm fully recovered so starting today, all of us will be heading to the bridge to guard Tazuna." Kakashi explained that morning as he knew that if Zabuza was truly alive then today would be the start of when he could strike again. As such he had to be with the man since he was the only one that could stand up to him. Sai should be enough for his hunter partner and if not with Sasuke as back-up they would definitely be able to do it. Sakura, while better than before, would not be of much use other than to reassure the client and even that was only a chance since Tazuna even knew how weak she was. "So let's head out and keep on a look out." He ordered as they left with the old bridge builder. All was calm on the way over so Kakashi was relaxed somewhat. At least until hey reached the bridge and found everyone dead and a thick mist surrounding the area. "Defensive formation!" The jonin called out as his students quickly made a triangle around Tazuna while two silhouettes walked forward through the mist. One was tall had had a large sword on his back, being held up by chakra alone as he wore no straps for the blade. The other was wearing a dark green battle kimono and had on a white porcelain mask with red waves coming upward from the bottom.

"So, are we gonna really have to tussle again Kakashi? If you'd just hand over the old man, you could just leave."

"No can do Zabuza. Tazuna is Nami's hope. And we're not about to let you or Gato change that." Kakashi replied as he flipped out a kunai to use. Zabuza sighed but shrugged his shoulder.

"Oh well. Haku, get the bridge builder while I occupy Kakashi." The man ordered as he made a half ram sign with one hand to increase the mist and grabbed his legendary blade with the other.

"As you wish Zabuza-sama." Haku replied before rushing forward. Kakashi would've intercepted him but was cut off as Zabuza slammed his blade down in front of him.

"Not so fast Kakashi. You fight me!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Stand aside if you want to live." Haku ordered with a trio of senbon raised in his hand. Sakura was shaking but still standing strong while Sai was keeping a focused gaze on the hunter and Sasuke smirked.

"I don't think you're in any position to demand that. We out number you. And you're someone we can beat."

"Your opinion on the matter is overconfident." Haku commented before making hand-signs with one hand. "For you see, I can take on all three of you with ease." Needles of ice formed behind him and with a single gesture they were all sent flying forward. Sai and Sasuke instantly retaliated by deflecting all the needles with their tanto and kunai respectively before Sasuke charged in as Sai knelt down to use his ink ninjutsu. The Uchiha swung at Haku with his kunai only to be parried before Sasuke leapt back.

"Choju Giga (Super Beast Imitation Picture)!" Sai called out as lions made of black ink ran under Sasuke and leapt at Haku. The boy quickly tossed senbon into each and destroyed them before having to dodge to the side as Sasuke came in again trying to axe kick him. Haku moved out of the way and tried to retaliate when more lions came up to stop him. The hunter was trapped between dodging Sasuke's attacks or dodging the lions. With a small grunt Haku tossed needles into the lions to dispel them while leaping back further to avoid Sasuke's attacks. The boy smirked a how the hunter was forced into retreat.

"What was that about beating all three of us? Looks like you can't even handle two." Sasuke taunted as Sai kept himself at the ready and Sakura had even stopped shaking seeing as they were winning. Haku was silent but behind his mask was frowning a how effective Sai and Sasuke were. The boy was obviously a distance fighter, using his ink ninjutsu to attack from afar. Meanwhile Sasuke kept trying to get in close, so they used that to their advantage as Sai would have his jutsu cover the weak points in Sasuke's attacks. "Hn. I doubt you could even face one of us." The boy continued before running through hand-signs of his own and taking a deep breath. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique)!" He let out as he launched a fireball at Haku. The boy gasped behind his mask as he leapt to the side, just for a few hawks of black ink to come rushing at his face.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Just die!" Zabuza shouted as he swung his blade down and Kakashi leaned back to dodge. The white haired jonin instantly retaliated with a kick but Zabuza maneuvered the sword to take the blow so that he skidded back into the mist. Kakashi was quick to follow but had lost the stealth oriented jonin quickly in the obscuring fog. "Hmph, this is getting repetitive Kakashi. And I so hate repeats."

"Well you could leave. That would break the monotony." The man quipped before tossing a kunai behind him as he ducked under a slash. He heard the metal knife pierce flesh but then felt as the water clone splashed on him from losing its form. "You can't sneak up on me Zabuza."

"Just as you can't kill me in the split second of my attack." The ex-Kiri ninja growled back. He was getting increasingly irritated in Kakashi's ability to dodge his blade. He was the Demon of the Mist and an assassin among assassins! Yet Kakashi was still holding onto life and even making valid, though failed, attempts to end him during the split-second timing of his attacks. Clones weren't working as they weren't strong enough to dodge or survive his counters and even his best stealth was failing to catch the Konoha ninja off guard. _'I will not fail here! The old man will die!' _Zabuza thought before grinning under his facial bandages. He never had to beat Kakashi. He just wanted to as a mater of pride. His mission though was far easier. "Ya know, This fight is pointless Kakashi."

"Oh, you just realized?" Was the reply as Kakashi whipped out another kunai to respond to Zabuza's next move. "You can't kill me, I can't kill you. Back and forth, back and forth; I was thinking you should just leave and everything will be alright."

"That wasn't what I was referring to Kakashi."

"Then what were you?"

"Only that I was fighting you over my pride, when I never had to fight you at all to defend it." Zabuza remarked before falling silent. Kakashi waited while trying to figure out the man's move before his eyes widened and he ran back to Tazuna. Zabuza's pride was in his assassination skills, skills Kakashi deflected in their earlier encounter. If the nuke-nin really wanted to defend that pride, he'd complete his mission despite the heightened risk. And the sliver haired jonin was never the man's mission.

"Shit! Sakura! Tazuna!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered as the boy kicked Haku in the face. Sai instantly pounced on the opportunity as his lions leapt on the downed hunter and began mauling him. However it was not to be as Haku's form dissolved into water at the constructs attack. Things were silent in the mist before mirrors of ice began forming around Sasuke, trapping him in a dome. Haku's image appeared in one mirror before shimmering and appearing in all mirrors.

"You have pushed me farther than I expected genin-san. However it ends here. First with you, then with the pale one." Sasuke scowled as he looked around at each of the images, trying to locate the real among the reflective surfaces. However he was forced to abandon that search and move as senbon rained down from every direction in pierced his body. The Uchiha grit his teeth as he pulled a needle out of his arm, noticing that it was already harder to move and that he was losing feeling in it. "Give up and I will spare your life." Haku's voice echoed out from the mirrors.

"I am an Uchiha. An elite." Sasuke growled in response. "I will not give up! I will not lose to a no-name like you!" He shouted as he ran through signs and launched a fireball at a mirror. However much to his shock, the ice hadn't melted in the slightest. Outside the dome, Sai narrowed his eyes before he began drawing out his next wave of attackers.

"Then you will die." Haku responded calmly and began striking Sasuke wit more needles at a high pace. The boy quickly pulled a kunai out and began deflecting what he could while guarding his vital spots to stay safe. As he did he glared at the mirrors. It was after a new wave of needles though that he saw it, the shadow. It wasn't much, hardly noticeable entirely, but Sasuke still focused on it for a second before seeing the shadow leave a mirror and jump to a new one as needles flew from the shadow. It was moving to fast for him to react to but he instantly knew what it was. Haku. The boy wasn't in every mirror but moving from surface to surface at such a high speed his eyes could only make out the shadow of his movement.

"I…" Sasuke panted out as he was getting more exhausted with each needle that struck him. "I can see…" He muttered to himself as the shadow seemed to grow more defined with each pass. "I can see." Suddenly he saw Haku clearly and tossed a kunai at the mirror the boy had just entered at the end of another attack run. "I can see!" Haku gasped beneath his mask before looking into Sasuke's eyes and seeing red. A very familiar red that Zabuza had warned him of while he was healing.

The Sharingan.

Sasuke smirked but then ducked as his eyes caught moving chakra coming from behind the mirrors. Haku was confused and looked out the back of his hiding place just to curse as multiple birds, each carrying an explosive tag crashed into each mirror and exploded on impact. Haku survived unharmed by leaping out of a shard and landing safely while is dome collapsed and Sasuke stood panting with a smirk and his red eyes. "Why don't you give up? Cause you can't beat an Uchiha!" The boy taunted as Haku mentally scoffed. It wasn't Sasuke that was the problem, it was Sai. However Sasuke was good enough to keep his focus off the pale boy and thus let the real threat get off powerful attacks.

"This fight… is far from over."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kakashi ran and held back a smile and sigh of relief as he saw that his students and Tazuna were fine. He even lightly chuckled when he managed to glimpse Sasuke's new eyes. _'Took him long enough.' _However he kept his senses on alert as Zabuza had yet to make his move. 'Now where is he?' The man thought as he looked around as best he could in the mist. It was only thanks to his implanted Sharingan that he noticed the silhouette appearing behind Tazuna with a large cleaver raised. "Sakura, Tazuna! Get down!" He shouted as he rushed in. The pair froze before rushing to follow his orders but the old civilian was to slow as he was cut in half from behind.

"I win Kakashi!" The man boasted as the jonin's hand erupted into lightning during his charge. Before Zabuza could pull his blade back, Kakashi was upon him and had rammed the electricity covered hand through Zabuza's heart. The nuke-nin let out a cry of pain as he coughed up blood and looked down a the arm going through him. "I… still win… Kakashi."

"Guess again Zabuza." The jonin replied with a calm voice as the man looked down at the bridge builder's body as it dissolved into ink. Sitting and breathing heavily next to Sai was a terrified but perfectly fine Tazuna while the mist cleared enough for the genin and false hunter to see how Kakashi had a hand rammed through Zabuza's chest.

"Zabuza-sama!" Haku cried out and rushed forward, knocking over the Uchiha who was too injured and exhausted to stop him. However he barely got any farther when he froze as a blade entered his chest from behind. "What…?" With a glance behind him he saw Sai with a serious expression holding the handle to his tanto.

"All threats to the mission must be terminated."

"No… Zabuza-sama…" The Kiri ninja looked to his apprentice as the boy fell to the ground when Sai removed his tanto. He then used the last of his strength to face Kakashi and wished his face wraps were off so that he could spit in the man's face as a final insult.

"Damn you…" Kakashi took his last words in stride as he ripped his arm back out of Zabuza's chest and let the man fall to the concrete. He turned to Sakura and used his non-bloody hand to help stand her up before walking her over to Tazuna and motioning for Sasuke and Sai to join them.

"Well done on defeating Haku you two. And Sakura, good reflexes on ducking under when I shouted." It was really the only thing the girl had done the entire fight but he still was proud she hadn't passed out from the gore she had just witnessed or the fright she was obviously feeling. As for Sai and Sasuke, the Root agent did exactly as he expected while Sasuke finally awoke his bloodline. "Sasuke, congratulations on waking up your Sharingan. I'll help you with it when we get back to Konoha. Sai, nice move saving Tazuna and ending the hunters life."

"Thank you sensei." Both replied. However their sense of victory was short lived as the mist cleared and the sound of multiple footsteps rang out. They all turned to the end of the bridge to see hundreds of bandits all following a small man in a business suit with a cane. They all walked up with sinister grins at the group before stopping around twenty feet away as the man in a suit laughed.

"Ha! So the mighty demon was all talk after all! I knew it." He gloated before gesturing to his men to bring something forward. "Now, this is how things will work. You hand over he old man's head, or the slut here dies." He offered as two men came forward dragging a bond and gagged Tsunami with them.

"Tsunami!" Tazuna cried out seeing his daughter being held captive. Kakashi's eyes narrowed as Sasuke and Sakura looked shocked and Sai ran scenarios in his head.

"I take it you're Gato." Kakashi calmly stated while motioning to Sai with a hand. The boy discreetly nodded before pouring out an ink bottle behind him on the ground and running his chakra through the liquid.

"That's right." Gato replied. "Now do as I say or not only will the girl get it but my men will kill all of you as well." He demanded as Kakashi slowly nodded his head.

"Alright, fine." He called out, getting Sasuke and Sakura to turn to Kakashi in shock while Tazuna nearly fainted right then and there.

"What?" He cried before Kakashi turned to him.

"Just go." He ordered before glancing at Sai and whispering so Gato wouldn't hear him. "Trust me, you won't be harmed."

"O-okay." Tazuna relented before slowly and shakily walking towards Gato. The bridge builder made it within three feet of Gato before it happened. From behind the man, multiple ink snakes shot out, most at Gato but a few at Tsunami's captors. The short man shouted in fear and fell back while the men holding Tsunami were struck in the arms and head knocking them down. Tazuna ran to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her as Kakashi dashed in and started beating the bandits away.

"Get Tazuna and Tsunami out of here!" Kakashi yelled to his genin who all rushed forward. Sasuke and Sai threw a few kunai and shuriken into the group of thugs while Sakura helped the two civilians up and began to rush them away from fight. The bandits realized their payday hinged on Tazuna's death so they all rushed forward in an attempt to reach the man but Kakashi used his superior skills to hold them back before an arrow was shot from the other end of the bridge and landed a their feet, stopping them cold as they looked up and saw most if not all of Nami standing on the other side with various pitchforks and clubs or other items.

"Leave grandpa alone!" Inari shouted as he held he crossbow that had launched the arrow. Seeing how the villagers were all glaring at the bandits and at how Kakashi was standing with a kunai and seemed ready to charge into them they all ran scared. Through it all, none noticed how Gato had fled the second the ink snakes had charged him.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Do you really have to go?" Inari asked as the villagers stood across from the Konoha team stood across from them a few feat away. The bridge had been finished yesterday and now was time for the group to return home their village. The town had partied day and night to celebrate their freedom from Gato's rule when they weren't working on the bridge itself. Inari had gotten particularly attached to the group since they had shown him how his actions weren't helping anything. He had begun to believe that it was better to try since the ninja had managed to actually do what they set out to do, which before he was calling impossible.

"Yeah, we need to head back to Konoha. The mission took far longer than expected and was much more difficult too. Hokage-sama won't really be happy about that either." Kakashi explained as Tazuna smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah… again, I'm really sorry about that. Once we're back on our feet, we'll send the appropriate payment and more. I promise."

"We'll hold you to that Tazuna-san." Kakashi commented with an eye-smile. The jonin then motioned for his team to head out so with a final wave to the people of Nami they began to walk back home. The villagers cheered their thanks before Inari brought up a question.

"Hey grandpa, what're we gonna name the bridge?" The old man blinked for a second before scratching his head.

"Huh, ya know, I never thought of that." People began calling out various names before he heard one he liked. "Oh! What was that last one?!" He shouted back to the crowd behind him.

"Mighty Leaf!"

"The Mighty Leaf Bridge… It has a sort of ring to it doesn't it?" He asked so they cheered and agreed with the name. They all let out a cheer for the Konoha ninja again and the new name for the bridge before they turned to head back to their homes.

"Don't leave now, the best part hasn't been finished yet." A voice rang out, young and full of confidence. Tazuna didn't know what had even happened. One moment he was walking next to Tsunami and Inari and the next he was painfully on his knees with a sharp edge being held to his throat from behind. The villagers all turned around to see what had happened and instantly began shouting for his freedom. The old man tried to make out who was holding him but could only see a girl to his right and a taller boy to his left. "Wow, this is some bridge." The one behind him commented, sounding slightly impressed. "You know, Gato actually said something about it being a work of art if I remember." Gato?! You mean they still had to deal with that tyrant? Didn't he die on the bridge battle? Or leave the country after it? They hadn't heard a thing about the man since so they thought they were free of his evil.

"Let Tazuna go you bastard!" A man shouted. "Gato's gone now and can't do anything now that the bridge is done!" A few other villagers all shouted agreements but quieted down as the blade was pressed closer to his throat, lightly pricking his skin and letting a small trail of blood run down his neck.

"True this wonderful piece of art is finished but false about Gato being unable to do anything. You see, Gato hired us to tell you all a message, and a message we shall tell." The one holding him taunted in a cheery voice.

"Nami is his country to do with as he pleases." The girl commented. She sounded smug and happy at what they were doing. "If you don't like it, he'd be happy to provide you with a VIP ticket to the afterlife like Kaiza and the others who opposed him." She continued.

"His rule over this land is not over merely because of this construct of stone and metal." The teen to his left commented. He sounded… empty would be the best way to put it. Similar to that Sai boy with the Konoha ninja but without the creepy fake cheer he used.

"As Gato said this bridge is something of a piece of art." The one behind Tazuna spoke up again. "Well in the immortal words of my nii-san; Art is a bang!" He shouted as he ripped the blade across Tazuna's neck, ending his life. Simultaneously multiple explosions went off. The three turned and ran to the Hi no Kuni side of the bridge as began to crack and collapse. The villagers screamed in terror and ran back to the Nami side of the bridge which was closer and within reach with their civilian speed before turning around to see the bridge falling apart into the sea below it.

Weeks of construction, millions of dollars, all of their hopes and dreams of freedom. All of it vanished with each piece of cement that hit the water. With each piece of metal that flew into the sky. With each crashing bang that echoed in the air.

Nothing. There was really nothing that could save them. Gato couldn't stop Tazuna and the bridge directly so he resorted to dirty measures, just like he did in everything else. They should've seen it coming. It was obvious he wouldn't take defeat lying down. He always got what he wanted and reacted violently when he didn't. They really shouldn't be surprised he would've hired more men to kill Tazuna or destroy the bridge after its completion. And yet they were. All of them were caught off guard by his maneuver. They were too caught up in the happy parties and fact he was gone for a while to realize it.

The villagers wailed to the skies in anguish and despair. Their one hope was gone. The hero that built it and restored hope to the nation, was gone. The ninja that helped them, were gone. There was nothing left to save them. Nami belonged to Gato now. Forever.

Among the cries, the ones of a small boy were the loudest.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"That was fun!" Naruto commented as they stopped at the solid ground on the other end of the bridge and turned around to watch the bridge collapse. Their sensei sure knew where to place the explosives for maximum destruction.

"Ha! Let's see them build another one!" Hikari cheered before raising a hand to her chin. "You know, I'm actually wanting them to do it. Just so we can blow it up again." She commented with a wave of her hand. Kurai said nothing before stiffening and turning around.

"We're not alone."

"Yeah, we know." Naruto muttered before turning around with Hikari mimicking him. A second later and the Konoha team rushed forward before surrounding them. They all stared in shock at he destroyed bridge before turning glares at the three.

"What have you done?!" Kakashi shouted. Kurai held a hand out, ready to summon his scythe if needed while Naruto shrugged with a grin and Hikari laughed. The blond was thankful he had his hood up to hide his face and hair. As his father's student, he was sure Kakashi could likely ID him on sight alone.

"Our job, that's what Hatake-san." Naruto calmly replied.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" Sasuke demanded. While he was pissed at the bridge being destroyed, he was mostly anxious to test his new Sharingan against more opponents.

"We're from Iwa, Uchiha." Naruto answered. "And we don't need to tell you who we are." The boy reached for a kunai and Hikari shook her finger in a scolding manner.

"Uh uh uh, you can't touch us." She taunted. "We did not interfere with your mission or you. We also did nothing within Hi no Kuni borders outside of fleeing the destruction to them. The most you've got on us is illegal entry into your country and so long as we remain peaceful, the most you can do is escort us back out of the country." Hikari explained, using the reasoning their sensei told them to say yesterday if they got into the very situation they were in at the moment. Sasuke growled and looked to Kakashi who reluctantly nodded.

"It's true."

"But look at what they did!" Sakura cried out. "They destroyed Tazuna-san's bridge! We can't take them in for that?"

"I also slit the old mans throat personally." Naruto commented while raising a hand up and grinning. Sasuke growled as Sakura actually gasped in shock.

"You what?!"

"I took a kunai, and I ripped it through the old man's larynx. Right before we set off the explosives." Naruto told them while slowly reaching into his kunai pouch and pulling out the still bloody weapon. He tossed it lightly at the ground at her feet before pointing at it. "There you go, a souvenir from Nami! Enjoy!" Sakura stumbled back as Hikari started laughing loudly.

"Sensei!" The pink haired girl cried out and Kakashi wanted to attack them ad bring them to Konoha for justice but knew they couldn't

"We can't Sakura." He told her, his glare never leaving the three. "Our mission ended the minute the bridge was finished. We only stayed one more day at their behest. By then Tazuna was no longer our responsibility. As much as I want to, we can't do anything to them."

"Shinobi conduct forbids villages from interfering with others unless mission statements are opposing each other and then it advises caution. Sensei is right, our contract with Tazuna-san was over the minute the bridge was completed. Even if they had killed him last night, we would be obligated to allow it to happen." Sai explained, though one hand was holding a brush and he was knelt down in front of an empty scroll. "Likewise, they are correct in that the laws of Hi no Kuni state we can only escort them out of the country at the nearest border available. However, should they refuse or prove hostile, we are authorized to subdue with lethal force."

"And we won't." Kurai spoke. "We shall leave for Tsuchi no Kuni and Iwagakure now as our mission is complete. Tazuna is dead and the bridge is gone, ensuring Gato's hold on the country remains strong." Sasuke growled at how they were using a political loop hole to avoid a battle and Kurai could see in his eyes how he wanted a fight. "If any of you attempt to harm us in any matter without provocation, you are essentially declaring war on Iwagakure. We are one of Tsuchikage-sama's top teams, he would be more than willing to avenge our deaths or incarcerations." He explained.

"Then put your hands over your heads and get moving. We'll escort you out now. Just know that a repeated offense of this kind is an automatic capture order." Kakashi growled out as the team of Iwa ninja raised their hands, one stoically and the other pair with wide grins. Kakashi's genin moved into a diamond formation around them with kunais in hand incase the smaller group turned hostile. With a nod to Sai, who was on point, the group began moving towards the border. "Try anything, and I'll personally end you."

"Why Hatake-san, you sound angry. I wonder why?" Naruto taunted before laughing. Kakashi grit his teeth but ignored it, instead focusing on the three to try and get an idea of what they were capable of. He noticed the girl had a slim but muscular build, made more for flexibility and speed than strength. It also instantly showed she wasn't a fan girl like Sakura was. She only had on one weapon pouch though with her long sleeves that would be concealing her hands if they were down, he would never have seen the gauntlets on her wrists. Each one was a dark red with a black rose symbol on them and seemed to have some type of ejection slot near the wrists. He didn't know it they ejected blades or projectile weapons or if they were inscribed with seals for other uses though so he couldn't get a full read on her skills. The older boy of the three had held a hand out to the side during the entire confrontation between the two teams, only stopping when he was told to raise his hands. He didn't carry any kind of visible weapons pouch so Kakashi theorized he had to be a taijutsu type or used some strange kind of jutsu to fight. Especially with how he held his hand out. It was as if he could call something out of it with but a thought.

And finally was the one wearing a hood. On both his wrists were crimson gauntlets shaped like foxes which were leaving Kakashi with a bad feeling due to the stigma foxes left on Konoha thanks to the Kyuubi attack twelve years prior. Not only that but while Kakashi wasn't a sensor-type, he didn't have to be to feel the boy's massive reserves. They were easily far bigger than his own and seemed on par with the Sandaime. Not only that but the way he carried himself and spoke, it was with nothing but confidence. Sure there was a touch of the same arrogance Sasuke bandied about all the time, but the boy spoke as if he could've backed it up. Not only that but he seemed happy he killed Tazuna. That meant not only had he killed before but he would be fine with doing so again. Kakashi could tell he was the largest threat of the three and likely both could and would slaughter all three of his students if he was given the chance.

All in all, Kakashi believed the three to be far above his genin and a possible match for him if they managed to triple team him.

It took them an hour to reach the border in which there were many taunts from Hikari and Naruto towards the genin. Sasuke was practically shaking with rage while Sakura wanted to cry at how they had torn into the group with taunts of their failure. Technically their mission was a success, however the final outcome became a failure. Not only that but the horrid conditions in Nami would only continue or worsen thanks to the actions of the Iwa group. Kakashi growled as they reached the border and stopped. "Leave, before I find a reason to kill you." The jonin ordered. The three jumped over to the Iwa side of the border before turning back to Kakashi and his genin.

"As a final note, we were spying on you in Nami for an entire week!" Naruto shouted as he flipped them off and Hikari laughed. "So I'll leave you weaklings with a couple warnings! Beware the snake and the prodigal son will return for what's his!" With that the three left as Sasuke growled and Kakashi's hand twitched for his kunai pouch. He restrained that impulse though as Sai lowered his hand from his tanto and Sakura collapsed to her knees crying over Nami's fate and their inability to change it.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"**So, have fun taunting Hatake's team?" Kurotsuchi asked as her genin came to the meeting point. She had expected that Konoha would want to interfere and had even counted on it to ensure a safe return to Iwa territory. Naruto grinned as he pulled his hood down and Hikari laughed.**

"**Oh, you should've seen the look on the Uchiha's face! He really wanted to tear into Naruto-kun the entire time! Even Hatake did!" She cheered.**

"**Yeah, and that chick was in tears over it all! Man, if only we could do that more often!" Naruto added as Kurotsuchi turned to Kurai.**

"**We completed the mission by eliminating Tazuna and spreading the message that Gato is in control of Nami sensei." Kurai explained as he was the only one that taken part in the taunting nor the enjoyment of it. The woman nodded her head with a smirk.**

"**Good. Then let's head back to Iwa. You three of the Chunin Exams to prepare for."**


	13. Arc 2 Chapter 8

**GodShadowEX: **No reason to show other points of view? Actually yes there is. It's the same reason Kishimoto does it in canon. To expand the story. Like despite the story being called Naruto, we've had entire arcs that focused on Sasuke and one that was more focused on Shikamaru and one that focused almost entirely on Jiraiya. It helps keep people up to date on what's going on outside of the main character and with the rest of the world. While the focus will always be on Naruto first and foremost, that doesn't mean that I won't go off to show other characters occasionally for a chapter or just a segment of one. You're actually the only one who complained about this after I explained my reasoning so I take it you're the only guy who didn't understand or accept it.

**Kid Buu: **Naruto's pairing has already been confirmed as Hikari, my OC teammate for him. Also, lemons have also been confirmed, just not until they're older. I will show evidence of them having sex earlier, but I won't write the scenes out until the Shippuden years.

**Animeguy1101: **A mini crossover of my two pure Naruto fics, this and my Kurai Kitsune story? I'll admit it sounds like fun but I don't think I'd do it.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Two: Genin Blitz

**Chapter Eight - **Whispers in the Dark

Naruto grinned as his group was returning to Iwa. They had just destroyed a bridge and killed its architect, thus crushing the country's hope. Not only that, they had a small run in with Hatake Kakashi and managed to use political loopholes and bullshit to make the man not only back down but peacefully escort them out of the country when he wanted to kill them. In Naruto's mind, it was the ultimate insult and a very enjoyable mission. He was somewhat sadistic by nature, as was Hikari, and he enjoyed how he could taunt the Konoha elite without fear of retaliation. _'If only all my missions could be that fun.'_

"**It was rather entertaining." **Kyuubi commented in his head.

'_I know right? I hope we see them again in Konoha! I want to see his face when he sees he was mocked by genin!'_

"**It should be a rather enjoyable sight. Plus you can then humiliate him within his home village." **Naruto and Kyuubi shared a laugh before Kyuubi turned serious. **"Kit, will you be okay?"**

'_What do you mean?'_

"**Going to Konoha. To the place that exiled you because of me. Are you going to be alright?" **Naruto was silent as he thought it over.

'_Yeah. I'll be fine. I don't have any memories of Konoha to attach me to the place and I'm already going against my parents wishes by allying with their greatest enemy so hating the place they gave their lives for doesn't really bother me.' _Naruto explained. _'I guess… I guess I just don't feel anything special about going to Konoha. Maybe I'll feel different in the village but right now it's nothing. The village is there, I'll be going to it, what's there to feel or get emotional about?'_

"**I suppose your right."**

'_Besides, what do you care anyways? I figured you'd be happy I'm going to possibly destroy the place.'_

"**Oh I am, that's for sure. It's just, I'll admit I've grown attached to you kit. I'm just a little worried about what may happen to you."**

'_Aw thanks fuzzy, that means a lot to me.'_

"**Scratch that, I'm killing you the next time you enter the mindscape" **Naruto chuckled as Kyuubi broke their connection. None of the others around him commented on his random chuckle as Kurotsuchi knew he had likely been talking to Kyuubi while the other two just didn't care.

"So, sensei, what're we going to be doing to prep for the Exams?" Hikari called out. The older woman thought for a moment before replying.

"Well, no missions for one. I'm going to be running you three into the ground with training instead." The genin nodded their heads as she continued. "Naruto-kun needs a little work on controlling the Kyuubi's chakra and his taijutsu so I'll see if I can throw him to Roshi-sama for a bit. Kurai will just need a sparring partner for the month and you, Hikari, are going to finish your earth element training and then I'm going to let your clan handle the rest." The girl growled so Kurotsuchi faced her with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but despite your hatred of them, they can train you in your clan arts better than I can."

"I know but that doesn't make I any better." She growled before shaking her head. "Why does my family have to be stuck in the clan era with all their sexist shit?" She asked getting Kurotsuchi to shrug even though she agreed with the girl.

"If I don't end up going to Roshi-jii then you can train with me Hikari-chan." Naruto offered. The girl smiled while the group continued onward.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You're far later than expected Kakashi. I take it there's a reason?" Sarutobi asked as Kakashi walked into his office with the genin following in behind him.

"A lot happened that you need to be aware of."

"Then by all means." Hiruzen motioned as the door was closed.

"First off, the client lied about the difficulty ranking. The mission was easily A in difficulty as he was being targeted by enemy Shinobi and knew it was a very large possibility that would happen." Sarutobi scowled and was going to say something but Kakashi shook his head. "Please let me finish Hokage-sama." The old man sighed but nodded. "We encountered the demon brothers formerly of Kiri and they told us everything. I then questioned Tazuna for the other side of the story. Apparently Nami no Kuni had been taken over by Gato of Gato Corporation and was being used as the man saw fit, which needless to say is horrible. He's run the country into the ground and essentially shut down their livelihoods through either outdoing them through business or by forcing them to through intimidation and violence. Most of the country's remaining cash went into the bridge Tazuna was trying to build and what was left only amounted to a C-rank payment so he lied to get the protection he could. Gato apparently found out he left for Konoha and hired missing nin to take the man out."

"And? Why didn't you return or send for reinforcements at this point?" Sarutobi interrupted as Kakashi had yet to get to the point.

"The demon brothers said they worked for Momochi Zabuza and as the two of us are A rank I felt I would be enough. Also, I could leave Tazuna to the genin while I dealt with the man, that is why. Sai brought up a good point that Konoha could help a recovering Nami and then procure a trade agreement from them to aid the both of us so I decided to go on ahead with just us. Upon arrival in Nami we were confronted by Zabuza but with a bit of help from Sai I managed to defeat him. However a hunter nin from Kiri swooped in and killed the man before I could and then left. However it turned out that was a ruse as the hunter was actually working with Zabuza and in reality saved his life. I left Tazuna to Sai while I trained Sasuke and Sakura as much as I could to confront Zabuza again once he recovered from the injuries I inflicted. It was a week later the man came back and tried to attack. The genin took on his hunter accomplice and managed to defeat him, Sai dealing the killing blow while Sasuke awoke his Sharingan. I managed to actually kill Zabuza this time so the threat was gone. It was then Gato himself showed up with a small army of bandits and thugs. However the people of Nami rallied against the man and together we drove them off, though Gato went missing during the scuffle. It only took a week more but Tazuna finished his bridge so we left to return home."

"I see. Then once Nami is back to normal I shall see to it they pay the appropriate cost and perhaps get that trade agreement young Sai suggested." The old Hokage started as Kakashi cut him off.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama but that won't be possible."

"Why?"

"Because Tazuna is dead and his bridge destroyed so Gato's hold on the country remains strong."

"How?"

"We had only crossed the bridge five minutes earlier when multiple explosions went off behind us followed by screams. We rushed back to see what was the matter and found a trio of Iwa Shinobi and a destroyed bridge. They claimed Gato hired them and to have killed Tazuna, one even dropped the bloody kunai he used for the act. They used political loopholes to avoid a fight and instead be escorted out of the country. I'm sorry Hokage-sama."

"So even in success, Iwa turned it to failure." Sarutobi mused, wondering why the village would make a move now when they had been relatively quiet since the end of the Third Great War. "The Shinobi, did you recognize them?" He asked as he hoped to see who Iwa used to counteract them. Kakashi shook his head.

"No. The team was two Shinobi and a Kunoichi. One of the boys seemed to be a couple years older than my genin while the other two I'd place at around the same age. Judging from how they carried themselves and their chakra levels I'd say two of them were chunin while one was a jonin."

"Appearances?"

"The older boy had spiked black hair and gray eyes. He also had a scar around his right eye and wore gray and black clothes though strangely he didn't seem to carry any weapons on him. I'd estimate he either uses a unique type of jutsu we don't know of or is a taijutsu user." Sarutobi nodded so Kakashi continued. "The Kunoichi had dark purple hair except for a white lock that circled her left eye. She wore a black top with extra long sleeves and black short skirt over red shorts. When I had the three raise their hands over their head so we could escort them from the country her sleeves fell revealing twin red gauntlets with black rose symbols on them."

"Could you recognize the rose if shown again?" Hiruzen asked and Kakashi nodded so the Hokage snapped his fingers. An ANBU dropped down from above so he turned to it. "We should check to see if it's a clan marking just to be safe. Bring me all info on Iwagakure clans we have and be sure to include clan symbols in each file." The ANBU vanished without a word so the old man turned back to the jonin. "While the information is brought, describe the last one."

"He had on a hood that covered his face so I couldn't say what he looked like. However he wore a black jacket and pants over a dark orange shirt and had red gauntlets over his wrists styled to look like fox heads. He carried himself like the team leader and his chakra was on par with yours Hokage-sama." Kakashi concluded as the Hokage widened his eyes.

"Are you sure of that Kakashi?"

"I'd place it around your level sir as I've only felt one other signature that large and she's dead." Kakashi said referencing Kushina. The wife of his late sensei easily had the largest chakra he'd ever felt.

"Kakashi, it may be late in telling you but that woman you're referring to was a container, that's why her chakra was so large. If this boy had chakra on that level then he's a very serious threat." Sarutobi informed as the man's eye widened at the information. "Perhaps one of Iwa's containers has passed on and this boy was made the replacement. I'm unsure but it's a viable option." Sarutobi mused as the ANBU from before dropped down and set some files on his desk before vanishing to his place once more. "Ah, good. Kakashi, look through these and see if you can find that rose symbol." The man ordered so Kakashi took the folders and browsed through until stopping on one.

"This is it sir. The Hanamaru clan." He announced as he set the folder down to a black rose symbol. Sarutobi perused it with narrowed eyes.

"Of course it has to be one of the clans we have little information on." He grumbled. "The clan is mostly assassination experts, very few enter the front lines or go into open battle, preferring to hide in that shadows to strike and decimate forces from behind the lines. One of the few concrete facts we have on them is that the black rose is only allowed on members of the leading family, meaning that girl is directly related to whoever the Clan Head currently is, likely an heiress then. The rest of the clan get rose markings of the color of their choosing with black stems." Sarutobi concluded. He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Is there anything else I should know Kakashi?"

"Right before they left, the hooded boy said he'd give us a couple warnings." Sarutobi perked his head up as Kakashi repeated them. "Beware the snake and the prodigal son will return for what's his." The Hokage narrowed his eyes and looked down as his mind raced over possibilities. "Hokage-sama, do you know what he meant?"

"I have a couple ideas Kakashi, but very few make sense or seem plausible with such vague wording." The old man sighed once more before waving his hand towards the door. "You're dismissed. Take a day off and come back for another mission afterwards. I feel you for earned it." The group nodded and headed out as Sarutobi thought back to the warning. _'The prodigal son… who could that be?'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright, we'll camp here for the night." Kurotsuchi announced as the team stopped in a small clearing near a cliff. They were about a day from Iwa and while Naruto was still ready and able to go, not everyone was a jinchuriki with near unlimited stamina. "Naruto, since you've still got most of your energy, you'll take first watch. Hikari can take second while Kurai takes third and I'll finish us off." The genin nodded before setting up their tents and camp overall. A fire was started and dinner was kept simple as it was just ration bars.

"Hey sensei, is camping by a cliff safe?" Hikari asked and the woman paused before answering.

"Under most conditions I'd say no. However this is a secret path known only to Iwa Shinobi. In addition to that, with how close to Iwa we are, bandits are practically non-existent so there's no threat of an attack. Honestly the only reason I have us doing watches is because I just want to be prepared in case someone stumbles upon us. It's doubtful but the possibility is always there." Kurotsuchi answered getting the younger girl to nod. "Anything else?" When nobody answered she smiled and went to her tent. "Alright then. Good night you three."

"Night sensei." Two of the genin chirped as Kurai got up and headed into his tent without a word.

"Anti-social bastard." Naruto muttered getting Hikari to giggle slightly at his attitude. "So, Hikari-chan, are you happy to be going to the Chunin Exams?"

"Hell yeah. I mean, we've only been genin for almost six months and we're already being sent to the Exams. Sure you've had tons of prior training, with being a jinchuriki and all, but do you realize what this means for me?" The girl asked as the blond shook his head. "It means I can shut the bastards in my clan up. Most look at me as weak despite being one of the strongest heirs the clan has ever seen, and all because I'm a girl. I'm sick of it, which is why I dedicated myself to being the strongest I could be. If I become a chunin after only six months of being a ninja, then that's a clan record. They'll have to respect me. I doubt it will change all of their opinions but it's a start. I'm going to change my clan, no matter what I have to do to do it." She finished and Naruto smiled.

"It's a good goal." He remarked as she smiled. "I really hope you can pull it off. I mean, with how strong you are it's insulting that they still try to look down on you. You know, I bet if Oji-sama stepped down right now and put a woman in the Kage seat most of your clan would try to revolt and would die. They're so far gone into their sexism I doubt they could accept a woman in power. That's why you have to change them. Not just for your own needs but for the future of your clan." The girl blushed slightly and looked aside as Naruto spoke.

"You know, that's the same thing my obaa-chan would always say."

"Really?" Hikari nodded so Naruto grinned. "Well that just shows that we're right. Once you're clan head, you'll change them for the better. I just know it." Hikari smiled and got up for her tent.

"Thanks Naruto-kun. Good night."

"Good night Hikari-chan."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The hours under Naruto's watch passed without incident as he kept himself awake and scanned the darkness that surrounded them. They were near a cliff in one of the few forested areas of Tsuchi no Kuni. A glimpse down the cliff had told Naruto that there was a river running down it, though he could only see the moonlight reflecting off the liquid itself as it was too dark and too far to see the actual water. **"Hey kit, time's up. Go wake the girl and get some sleep." **Kyuubi remarked in his head as the biju was keeping track of time for the boy.

'_Thanks Kyuubi.' _Naruto replied before getting up from his spot near the small fire and went over to Hikari's tent. The blond poked his head in to see the girl sleeping peacefully in her sleeping bag so he poked her foot lightly. "Hikari-chan…" He whispered. The girl mumbled but didn't otherwise respond so he poked her a little harder and whispered her name a little louder. "Hikari-chan…"

"Mmm… what is it?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and rolled onto her back.

"It's your turn for watch now. I'm gonna go to sleep." The girl nodded and yawned.

"Give me a minute Naruto-kun." He nodded and went back to his seat to wait as Hikari sat up and stretched before getting out of her tent. "Ok…" She yawned. "You can go to sleep now." Naruto nodded and was about to go to his tent when the kunai landed. Both Hikari and Naruto snapped to it and noticed the burning explosive tag on it before rolling out of the way. "SHIT!"

The tag went off with a bang, instantly waking the other two that were sleeping as they tore out of their tents and got out to see masked Shinobi rush into the clearing and attack. Naruto shoved chakra into his gauntlets to whip out his blades as Kurai called out his scythe and charged in with the blond. Kurotsuchi pulled out a kunai and clashed with a tanto being held by her assailant while Hikari ducked under a slash from her own attacker. The girl tried to kick her opponent away but was kneed in the face and sent back towards the cliff's edge before she could.

"Shit! Hikari-chan!" Naruto cried before pushing wind chakra through his blades and carving through the kunai his opponent was using straight into the man's chest. With a growl he cut the man in half and rushed over to Hikari's side to see that she was unconscious and leaking some blood from her mouth. Naruto growled and spun back around just in time for another kunai to land in front of him, the explosive tag on it nearly burned through. "Fuck!"

The explosion was large and not only sent him and Hikari over the edge but crumbled the stone and sent it into the darkness below. "Naruto! Hikari!" Kurotsuchi screamed as it went off before focusing on killing the attackers. They were going to pay for that. And then she was going to find a way to get down and rescue the pair.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Ugh… what happened?" Gray eyes opened slowly as the world was mostly darkness and shadows, though to her right was a very bright light accompanied by a slight sizzling. Pushing herself to her knees Hikari looked around to see the sizzling light was actually a flare, burning a bright white in the pitch black that surrounded her. "Wait, weren't we under attack?" She asked as she looked around to see that she was in a cave filled with multiple stalactites and stalagmites. She was a few feet from a pool of water though there was a wet trail leading from it to her feet and she was wet as well though she had apparently mostly dried off a this point. The girl's eyes narrowed as she tried to figure everything out before her eyes landed on the figure a couple feet away from her lying spread eagle on his back. "Naruto-kun!" She shouted as she crawled over to him, grunting from a pain in her chest. She quickly checked herself to see that she was just bruised before heading to the blond. When she reached him she laid a head on his chest and heard his heart beating along with the steady rise and fall of his breathing. "Thank Kami." She muttered as she looked him over before gasping at his legs. One leg was fine save for the foot being twisted too far to be natural while the other was bleeding and had the pants torn off from the knee down. "Okay… Come on Hikari, you can do this." She whispered to herself as she reached for her pack but found that it was empty. "Damn. I'll have to improvise." She cursed as she tore off her left sleeve and wrapped it around the bleeding leg. She then tore off the other and soaked it in the pool of water nearby before coming back and cleaning the blood off and removing the rubble from the wound.

Once she had his leg as cleaned up as she could she turned to the foot. "I can't really do anything here but shove it back into place…" The heiress muttered before shaking her head. "Sorry Naruto-kun, but this is gonna hurt." She lightly grabbed his foot and glanced at his unconscious form to see if there was a reaction. When there wasn't she closed her eyes and grit here teeth. "Here goes…" With a strong twist she snapped his foot back into place even as a loud crack echoed out in the cave. When the boy didn't even grunt she grew worried. "Come on Naruto-kun… you've gotta wake up. I don't want to be all alone here." She muttered as she pulled him up against a stalagmite before grabbing the flare and moving over by him. She checked his pouch to see it still had a couple kunai as well as another flare in it. "Well at least we have some supplies." The girl muttered as she got comfortable next to the blond. She still didn't know what happened and hoped that Kurotsuchi and Kurai were okay as well as hoping that the blond next to her would wake up soon.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Who sent you?" Kurotsuchi shouted as she held the man up by his throat with his back against an earth wall she had raised during the fight. Kurai had a scowl on his face and was gripping his scythe in his hands. The man the jonin was shouting at was the only one left alive of the strike force a five masked Shinobi, none wearing identifying headbands or symbols. In fact all were essentially blank slates as they had only used taijutsu and ninja tools, with two having tanto's in addition to the standard kunai, shuriken and explosive tag.

"Fuck you."

"Wrong answer." The woman growled as she buried her fist in the man's gut, making him cough up blood. "Now tell me who sent you!" The man was silent so Kurai stepped forward and held the blade of his scythe against the man's throat above his sensei's fingers.

"It would be most wise to answer her scum."

"Go…" The man choked out. "Go to hell."

"Planned on it. But that trip is a long ways away so you will inevitably reach it first." Kurai responded in his monotone. "Who sent you and why did you attack us? Answer these questions and I'll ensure it's painless." The man refused to talk so Kurotsuchi growled and slammed him against the wall again.

"Answer us damn you!" When the man stayed silent she dropped him before punching him hard in the face to knock him unconscious. "Damn them. Damn them all! What the hell is going on here?!" The woman shouted in frustration as Kurai sent his scythe away and faced her.

"While relevant, I believe we should prioritize searching for Hikari and Naruto. The two of them fell down the cliff, however I know the river down below is rather deep. Naruto likely would have done his best to ensure Hikari's survival and with the regeneration Kyuubi provides him I believe there is a chance they are alive." Kurotsuchi stared at him for a moment before sighing and giving him a small smile.

"You're right. Thanks Kurai."

"I'm merely stating the obvious. If you were not so distressed you likely would have known this already."

"Either way we need to get down there." Kurotsuchi walked over to the edge and peered down into the darkness with a frown. "But it's far too dark to search right now. Like it or not we have to wait until morning because I am not risking the cliff side when I can hardly see it. And Naruto-kun was the only one to pack flares so using them is out of the question." She growled as she looked at the unconscious man and pulled out her roll of wire. "Tie him up. We'll question him again in the morning and bring him to Iwa with us afterwards. I'm liable to kill him right now." Kurai nodded his head as he caught the wire and set about to follow his orders.

Truth be told he would prefer killing the man himself. While he didn't feel true emotions, he had grown attached to his latest teammates. Not only that but the logical part of him saw how valuable the were to Iwa. One was a jinchuriki and the other a valuable clan heiress. Losing the two was a blow to Iwa's Shinobi force, more Naruto's loss than Hikari's but the fact remained. If not for the fact they needed answers that now only this man could provide, Kurai likely would have killed him himself.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

His first thought was pain. Extreme pain in his legs to be exact. Naruto let out a pained gasp as his senses returned to him, evidently starting with touch and the feeling of pain it brought through his legs. The blond opened his eyes and looked down to see his leg had been treated while his other foot just throbbed in pain. _'Kyuubi? You there?'_

"**About time you woke up kit."**

'_What happened after I blacked out?'_

"**The girl treated your leg a bit and snapped your foot into place before dragging you against this rock. It's a good thing she fixed your foot because if I had let your regeneration near it then it would've healed like that and you would have had to snap it again for it to fix itself."**

"Naruto-kun!" Hikari shouted from next to him as she woke back up. The girl quickly wrapped the boy up in a hug as she buried her head into his chest. "Thank Kami you're okay." The blond grunted from how hard she was hugging him but then wrapped his arms around her in return.

"I'll be fine. Kyuubi's already working on the damage. Thanks for fixing my foot by the way. He said it would've been more painful and taken longer if you hadn't."

"It was nothing." The girl muttered before pulling back. "What happened though? The last thing I remember is getting a knee to my face before waking up here with you having some fucked up legs. I did my best to fix them up and spent some time trying to figure out where we are but fell asleep."

"Hmm…" Naruto closed his eyes and sighed as he thought back to how they had gotten in the cave. And to think Kurotsuchi had said the chance of attack as slim to none before they went to sleep.

"_Fuck!" Naruto shouted as the explosive tag went off, blasting him and Hikari over the edge while also sending a good portion of the cliff down as well._

"_Naruto! Hikari!" The blond heard his name but couldn't spend any time thinking about it as he fell through the air. His head whipped around before he saw Hikari's limp body falling nearby. With a grunt the blond righted himself the best he could in the air before trying to think of a way to save them before they went splat against the river and ground below._

'Come on Naruto! You can survive this!' _He thought before using a burst of wind chakra to push him to Hikari. Once he was close he grabbed the girl and wrapped her in his arms. _'Okay, now to get out of this.' _He thought before realizing he had used a tad too much wind chakra as he was moving towards the other cliff side at high speeds. "Fuck!" He shouted before spinning around to keep Hikari away from the rock wall. With a grunt and pained scream his back collided with the stone. He tried to grip the wall by pumping chakra through his legs but the result mad him scream as one of his feet snapped out of place from the rapid jerk against the cliff. The blond leaned his head up, or in this case down, to see they were fast approaching the river and his painful and accidental attempt with the cliff wall hadn't slowed them down enough. _'Gotta get back over the river and slow us down more or we're toast!' _He thought before drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra to from the one tailed cloak. His whiskers changed into jagged scars on his cheeks as his bright blue eyes went blood red. From his body a cloak of red chakra formed over him. It quickly came with a tail and 'fox ears' above his head as he focused on what to do. Using the tail to gently hold Hikari to his back Naruto used a pulse of wind chakra to get them back over the water. "This is gonna hurt." He muttered as he ran through hand-signs as fast as he could before shoving his hands forward towards the river her was approaching. "__Futon: Tatsumaki no Hashira (Wind Release: Tornado Pillar)__!" He called out as a twister shot out of his hand and slammed into the water below. The blond jerked as the slowing of his momentum struck him and he almost lost his grip on his jutsu but barely managed to keep his focus as even with that loss they were still too high for him to safely let the attack go. "More…" He muttered as they still fell towards the water at a fast speed. Naruto grit his teeth as he pushed more chakra into the jutsu, using Kyuubi's power as much as his own to keep it going. "Just a little more…" As Naruto and his unconscious passenger got within ten feet of the water Naruto let the jutsu drop and gripped Hikari tighter with his chakra tail._

_The two crashed into the raging rapids of the river as the current pulled them under. Naruto struggled to hold his breath as he was tossed around in the water before feeling him and Hikari get caught in a diverging current from the main river flow. He spun around and gripped Hikari with his physical arms even as his chakra tail still hugged her close to him. He banged against what he assumed to be the river bottom before being pushed out of the current and into a spot without any currents. Guessing they had been deposited in a lake of some sort Naruto did his best to swim to the surface even as he carried Hikari with him. He surfaced inside an underwater cave and quickly started paddling the best he could for shore with his arms wrapped around Hikari to keep her head above water. When he reached the rocky shore he pulled her out of the water, groaning in pain from the injuries to his legs before looking down at Hikari to check if she was still breathing. It was with a worried look he recognized that she wasn't. "No…" He placed an ear to her chest before getting back up. "No…" He quickly put his hands on her chest and pumped a few times before pinching her nose shut and breathing into her mouth, going through the motions of CPR the Academy taught. He repeated the process a few times before the girl started coughing and breathing under her own power so he sighed and fell back. "Good." He muttered before checking his pouch and growling at how most of his supplies had fallen out. "Damn, I'll need to get more when we go back home." Naruto mused before pulling out one of his flares and lighting it. He tossed it to the side before he crawled further away from the water and flipped onto his back. '_Kyuubi, heal me. Please.' _He thought before dropping the cloak and losing consciousness._

"And then I wake up to my legs hurting and my back to this rock with you by my side." Naruto explained as his eyes were red and his leg was steaming as the wounds healed faster from the Kyuubi chakra he was running through his body.

"That's the second time you've save my life." Hikari muttered as Naruto just threw and arm over her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Hikari-chan. You're my teammate, there's no way I'm letting you get hurt if I can help it." The girl just leaned into him with a small smile on her face.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." The two stayed in silence as they waited. Hopefully Kurotsuchi and Kurai could come soon.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright, you carry him." Kurotsuchi ordered as she and Kurai woke up the next day. The boy nodded before picking up the unconscious and bound man and hefting him over a shoulder. He then walked up to his sensei who was kneeling down and looking down the cliff side with a frown. "It'll be exhausting given how high up we are but I think it would be safest if we simply used our chakra to walk down."

"Do you have a spare soldier pill sensei?" Kurai asked and the woman nodded before handing it to him. He placed it in his mouth but didn't swallow it as instead he placed a foot on the cliff side and slowly started walking down.

"You'll just take the pill when you start feeling the drain huh?" She remarked before following down after her student. _'Naruto-kun, Hikari, please be okay.' _She thought as she wondered where they were. One she literally thought of as a son since she raised him and the other was a younger sister/daughter figure to her. As such she was extremely worried about them both for her own personal reasons, Iwa be damned in this matter. The woman would never forgive herself if something happened to them while she was around to stop it. Her eyes drifted to the prisoner Kurai was carrying as she held back an angry growl. _'You had better hope they're alive you bastard. Otherwise when Oji-sama is through interrogating you, you'll wish he used his __Jinton (Dust Release)__ on you.'_

The two continued onwards until they reached the bottom and were on flat ground again. Kurotsuchi walked up to the river and looked around as she could see some of the rocks that had fallen from above littering the area, the largest sticking out of the river itself. "If only Hikari was actually with us, she's the best tracker out of our team." Kurai silently nodded behind her as he looked at the raging waters in front of them.

"The river's flow is not only strong but it's well documented that it feeds several small underwater lakes and pools. If Hikari and Naruto fell into it they may have been carried downstream or through one of those channels. They could be anywhere within a mile from this point on and we'd likely never know." The boy commented with a small frown on his face. Kurotsuchi growled at his pessimistic logic.

"I could care less if they're five feet or five countries away! We are not going back to Iwa until we find them! Am I clear?"

"Hai sensei."

"Then don't talk unless you think you've found something out." She snapped at him before she began to run downstream, the emotionless boy following without a word.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Hikari groaned and rubbed her eyes as she woke up to find herself leaning across Naruto's chest. She quickly jumped back as if burned while accidentally shaking the boy to rouse him from his own sleep. The girl quickly calmed herself as she looked around. The flare had burnt out while the two were asleep but light wasn't a problem as apparently there was a large hole in the cave's roof a small distance away that brought in the sunlight of the morning. Naruto let out a yawn as he stretched his arms above his head and looked around. "Oh good, there's light." He muttered before he tried moving his legs. The one that had been bashed and bleeding moved around well enough, though was slightly sore. However when he moved the other leg slightly he gasped in pain and gently held his ankle as it had exploded in his mind. The foot was still healing and was extremely sensitive apparently as the slightest twitch had been extremely painful. "Damn. I'm not going to be moving today, even with Kyuubi working on that." He groaned before leaning back against the rock as Hikari came over.

"Are you alright Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, just my foot's still out of it."

"Oh…" The girl settled back down next to him as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. _'He's so warm… Is this him or Kyuubi?' _She wondered before sighing and relaxing a bit more against him. _'You know what? I don't care.' _She mused as Naruto chuckled at how she was starting to lean against him. "What?"

"Oh nothing much. Just wondering why you're leaning against me is all." He stated as she blushed and looked away.

"You're really warm and I'm cold."

"And here I thought you might like me Hikari-chan." Naruto joked as she blushed even brighter and refused to meet his eyes. The boy just chuckled but then closed his eyes and relaxed as Hikari shifted against him.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you care so much about me?"

"Wha…?" The blond muttered as he leaned forward again and stared at the girl that had brought her knees to her chest and was resting her chin on them. "What do you mean?"

"You say it's just because we're teammates but yet you aren't even half as protective over Kurai, even before we found out about his immortality." She pointed out before ticking off points on he fingers. "You'll spend time with me outside of training and missions even when you have something to do, you always go out of your way to be nice to me, you've even hurt yourself to extreme levels just to protect me. Twice now. Why? What it is it about me that makes you do this stuff?" She asked as she looked into the blonds' bright blue eyes. Eyes that looked away as Naruto tried to think of his answer.

"I…" He stuttered out. "I think…" The blond then shook his head and sighed. "Back at the Academy, I was still trying to figure out who I was and what I was supposed to be. It was hard to do when half the village wants me dead and the other half can't wait for me to be strong enough to fulfill the role Oji-sama laid out for me from the day I was brought to Iwa." Naruto explained, Hikari listening but wondering how it pertained to her question. "By the time our final year swung around, everyone in class had filed into two groups concerning me; either they hated me or they thought I was alright. All but three, you, Aiko, and Leyla. The three of you just seemed to accept that I was there and part of the class but never anything more so I was wondering what your thoughts on me were. I asked Aiko and Leyla and they just said they were lesbians and simply saw me as another, albeit powerful, addition to Iwa's Shinobi forces. Then I asked you and you said you didn't care about me. To be honest, it confused me. How could you not care? Everyone has an opinion on others. Good or bad, you just can't truthfully say 'you don't care' and leave it at that." Naruto explained as Hikari nodded. She remembered when he had questioned her. "It was confusing so I decided I'd try and figure you out. I wanted to know what you really thought. But at the same time with everything going on in the Academy as well as the plans being made for my future as a jinchuriki, I could never put a lot of thought or effort into it. That's why when we became teammates, deep down I was really happy. I thought 'here's my chance' and decided I could solve the riddle you had ended up becoming to me."

"I was a riddle to you?" The girl interrupted, a slight grin on her face as Naruto scowled.

"Don't interrupt." He quipped as he playfully smacked her arm. The girl just laughed and stuck her tongue out so Naruto grinned but continued. "Anyways, we got placed on a team together so I figured I'd do my best to figure you out. I'd help you out when you needed it, invite you to get some food with me after missions and practice just to talk and even ditch chores occasionally when I knew you'd be away from your clan compound just to spend time with you." Naruto looked down with a small smile as he kept talking. "To be honest, I wasn't sure myself why I saved you from Kurai's little freak-out that day. I used the teammate thing as an excuse because I couldn't think of anything else. And then when you added -kun to my name, I don't know why but I felt happy. So I started calling you Hikari-chan and it just felt right to me. Later when we got back and I was catching up with Dei-nii-san, he noticed it and even joked about it for a bit but I still wasn't sure so I blew it off and just started messing with him to change the subject. Then we kept training together and doing missions together and we just kept getting closer and closer and then this happened." Naruto waved his hand around in emphasis before closing his eyes. "When you first got knocked out, the only thing I thought of was 'were you okay?' I rushed over to check on you and then the tag went off that blasted us over the edge and I was more worried about keeping you safe and alive than I was about myself. I just thought that you were more important and that if I didn't save you then it didn't matter if I lived, I would've hated myself forever. I was really worried when you weren't breathing at first and was scared you had died. When you coughed up the water and started breathing again the only thing I felt was relief that you were okay."

"Naruto-kun…"

"I guess what I'm trying to say…" Naruto kept going, not noticing how her face was red or how she was staring at him now. "…Is that I, I like you Hikari-chan. I really do. I want to keep you smiling, keep you laughing. Help you when you're hurt, comfort you when you're sad. I think I've really fallen head over heals for you Hikari-chan." Naruto finished before opening his eyes and facing the girl. "That's why I care so much and go out of my way for you. Because I'm completely in love with you."

The girl was stunned at the admission as her entire face was burning a bright red and she found meeting his eyes to be near impossible. He loved her? He had really fallen for her? Even though he knew her clan would try killing him at every shot they got? Even though she seemed more worried about changing her clan than anything else? He could really fall for a girl like that? "Naruto-kun…" She started before giving a small chuckle. "You picked the worst place for a confession you know that?" She remarked dryly as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"I guess, but it's still better than never telling you." The girl just nodded absent mindedly but was really thinking about him. If she was worried about looks then there was no problem. She thought Naruto was one of the most handsome in the village and his whiskers were cute. Plus when his eyes were red and his whiskers thicker from the Kyuubi's chakra she thought he looked feral and wild which was attractive to her. If it was personality then again she didn't have to worry. The blond was one of the most loyal people she knew of and was always trying to keep his friends happy. Plus his sadistic side that came out for missions or people that bugged him was similar to her own attitude towards her clan and she liked that about him. In fact the only downside she could think of was her clan wouldn't approve but she hated them anyways so it was just more incentive to be with him. She believed whoever ended up with Naruto would be an extremely happy and lucky girl, and he was offering her the chance to be that girl.

"You know…" She started as she moved closer to him. "You technically took my first kiss with the CPR stuff last night."

"I guess…" Naruto muttered as she pushed him back against the stone spike behind him. She gently placed herself on top of him so that she was straddling him and he looked up to her face in confusion to see she was blushing a bright red. "Hikari-chan…"

"I kind of want some compensation for that."

"Like what?" Naruto asked as he girl leaned in slowly.

"How about…." She started, her breath hot on his lips. "….letting me enjoy it this time?" She asked before closing the distance and kissing the blond. Naruto's eyes went wide for a second before he closed them and just focused on the lips pressed to his. He set his hands on Hikari's hips even as she wrapped her own around his neck to pull him closer. Eventually the two had to pull apart for breath but they stayed close with their foreheads pressed together.

"Enjoy it?" Naruto asked as he had a blush of his own now. The girl just smirked.

"I don't know. Why don't I try again?" She teased before closing the distance again and kissing the blond. Naruto responded eagerly this time and kissed back, pressing his lips against hers before getting an idea. With a mental smirk he slipped his tongue out and ran it across Hikari's lips. The girl gasped at the feeling and that was the only opening Naruto needed as his tongue darted forward and began to explore her mouth. The girl moaned slightly at the feeling before firing back with her own tongue. To the blond, the girl's mouth tasted much like her favorite food of shrimp while Hikari was tasting ramen off the blond. Eventually they separated again panting for breath, both blushing. "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed before deciding he had stopped long enough and initiated the kiss this time. Hikari didn't argue and instead just went with it. She moaned as she felt Naruto's hands start running up and down her sides before she pulled her own away from his neck and started feeling up his chest. Emboldened by the shift Naruto brought his own hands to her chest as she moaned into his mouth. Naruto gently cupped and rubbed her growing chest through her clothes as the girl slipped her hands under his shirt to feel his chest directly. She had also started lightly rubbing herself against his hardening member. "Is this…" Naruto started just for Hikari to silence him with a kiss.

"What's the matter?" She teased. "Is the big bad Kyuubi jinchuriki scared?" Naruto smirked at the challenge and took a hand off her chest to grab her by the back of her head and pull her into another kiss. While he did that his other hand slipped under her shirt and started rubbing her breasts directly as he slipped it under her bra as well. Hikari gasped at the feeling but didn't pull away so Naruto took his hand off her head and slipped it under to join the other. The heiress moaned and pulled her hands to Naruto's hair as she kept him locked to her lips, losing herself to the feelings his touch was bringing. The girl could feel her pleasure mounting just from the kissing and how he was rubbing her chest and couldn't believe how good she felt. _'If this is just the foreplay, then I'm going to love the real thing.'_

"Well, it looks like you're both fine." The two instantly snapped apart and looked to their right where standing about ten feet away was Kurotsuchi and Kurai, the latter having an unconscious man over his shoulder. The woman had an amused look on her face while Kurai's was as blank as ever. Naruto paled and pulled his hands out from under Hikari's shirt before he started trying to explain his way out of the situation but no words would leave his mouth. Hikari however growled at the interruption.

"Damnit sensei! Couldn't you show up in a couple hours?" Hikari complained getting Naruto to gape at her while the woman just started laughing. "I was this close damnit!" The girl yelled as she got off Naruto and started chasing after the laughing woman. Meanwhile Kurai walked up to Naruto and dropped the man roughly next to him.

"I'm so confused right now." Naruto muttered as he was expecting Kurotsuchi to yell at him or attack him. He wasn't expecting her to seem amused by their situation or for Hikari to get up and start chasing the woman for ruining the moment. Next to him Kurai merely nodded in agreement.


	14. Arc 3 Chapter 1

**KnightOfZaku: **They'll learn about it right away but won't be able to do much about it since Hikari can use her own clan politics and small pull being the heiress gives her to block any attempts to do something to either of them. Also, when did I ever say Orochimaru would be training Naruto? I had the man thinking about what he could have done with the boy under his command and even think about the possibility of somehow taking him from Iwa but I never said Naruto was being trained by the Sannin.

**Shadow Realm Triforce: **They weren't Root, I'll admit that much. They are part of a small sub-plot that won't come into play until after the Chunin Exams.

**Luiz4200: **Why would he? Nobody in Konoha knows where Naruto is, who he is (outside of a select few) or if he's even alive. Plus prodigal son could actually refer to many Konoha characters. Itachi could be considered a prodigal son due to being the elder of the two Uchiha heirs. Kakashi could for his status as the son of the Legendary White Fang. Even Jiraiya as a Sannin or Tsunade as both a Sannin and direct relative of two Hokage's could fit the role, though obviously it be daughter in the latter's case. So why would Sarutobi think of Naruto when he has no idea about the boy even being alive?

**roboguy45: **In the words of Anko: 'Old enough to kill, old enough to drink and fuck.' Now obviously the woman has never actually said that but given her personality everyone can easily see her actually reasoning things that way. Plus as I said in earlier author's notes, the pair will have sex at that age. I just won't write any real scenes out until they're older. A hint here, a tease there but never a full blown lemon until later on in the story.

**Kid Buu: **This is the beginning of the long awaited Chunin Exam arc. Enjoy.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter One - **Learn to Fear

"Alright, you three will be heading out tomorrow for Konoha to partake of the Chunin Exams. I can't say what you'll go up against as each exam is different. All I can say is that I am personally counting on at least one of you making it to the finals. If you do so, then I will have a reason to come to Konoha myself and I can force Sarutobi to hand over Naruto's inheritance through politics rather than force. Also while Iwa wishes to destroy Konoha, we currently lack the manpower to do so. However, Orochimaru of the Sannin has formed his own hidden village called Otogakure and has allied with Sunagakure to invade Konoha during the Exam finals. I have yet to decide if Iwagakure shall take part but if we are to even have the choice then one of you must make it to the finals. I expect great things from all of you." Onoki finished as the genin stood at attention in front of his desk. To the left was Kurai, standing as rigid as a statue from receiving his orders directly from the top of command. To his right was Naruto in a more relaxed but still attentive position with a grin on his face and his hands in his pockets. And finally to the blonds' right was Hikari, grinning just as widely as he was and leaning slightly against the blonds' shoulder, as had become her habit since they had become a couple.

"We will not fail Tsuchikage-sama." Kurai had his hands clasped behind his back as he spoke. The short man nodded with a smirk as Naruto added his own input.

"You can count on us Tsuchikage-oji-sama. All three of us will make it to the finals and sweep the whole event." Hikari nodded her agreement as Onoki chuckled.

"Good. Then you're dismissed." The three gave short bows to their leader before leaving as he turned to the woman that played sensei to them. "You sure they can do this?"

"Oh definitely. Kurai has been ready for about a year now and it was only his lack of a team that prevented him from participating. Naruto-kun is enough to be a chunin on his own and if he uses Kyuubi's power I'd put him above the average jonin. And Hikari is a very skilled fighter and the best assassination specialist her age. Plus she's much farther along in her clan arts than you'd expect of someone that just turned thirteen a couple days ago. She's easily the weakest on the team and I'd still place her as a solid chunin already." Kurotsuchi explained with a smile. The best part was that the woman wasn't lying in the slightest and Onoki knew that. Their record was perfect and outside of the ambush that struck them on their way back from their last mission, they always finished on time with the exact results needed. "On a different note have you gotten anything out of that bastard that attacked us?"

"No. He's surprisingly resilient to torture and our interrogation techniques are having little effect on him. All we've managed to get is-"

"Is that he was hired by a man during a stop at a bounty office three miles south of Iwa. Same as last time." The woman interrupted, earning her a glare from her grandfather. "Sorry."

"As it stands, we've gained nothing new from him and the office was a dead end as they don't keep records on everyone who comes and goes and this request was apparently under the table as it didn't go through them or any of the official villages. Like I've told you, I'll let you know more when the info comes." Onoki explained so the jonin nodded with a slight frown. "Now go pack for your trip and enjoy your last day here for a while." The woman gave the man a small bow and smile before vanishing with a use of the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). Onoki sighed before he picked his pen back up and returned to the eternal shared enemy of all Kage. "I hate paperwork."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So now that our meeting with oji-sama is done and Kurai's gone off to 'who-gives-a-shit' what do you wanna do Hikari?" Naruto asked as he held the girl in his arms from behind, resting his head on her shoulder. She twisted slightly in his grip and pecked his cheek with a kiss before thinking about her answer.

"Well I could think of a couple things to do…" She whispered in his ear getting him to grin and squeeze her tighter against him. "The only real question is where…"

"Kaa-chan tried to kill us when she caught us in my room, your clan hates me, and we're not gonna go kick Kurai out of his own place just so we can have some fun." Naruto listed off with a frown before Hikari giggled.

"You know, our training grounds should be empty right now." She suggested and Naruto spun her around in his arms to kiss her straight on.

"Outside huh? Kinky." He growled getting her to laugh again. "I like it."

"Well I don't." The two turned there head to see Kurotsuchi scowling at them. "Seriously you two. Yes, sex is great, but damn! Can't you two give it a break for a day?" She growled and the two young teens just looked at each other with bored looks.

"Deidara-san is out of the village, isn't he?" Hikari asked as Naruto nodded.

"Yep, she's just jealous nii-san isn't here to fuck her too."

"So training grounds?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to fucking kill you two!" Kurotsuchi shouted as the two split and started running from the irate woman while laughing their heads off. This had become a common sight in the village since the two hooked up. Naruto or Hikari would discuss their rather active sex life despite being a couple for such a short time and then Kurotsuchi would try to get them to slow down. However they would just mock her for how she couldn't get laid as often as they did since her man was usually out of the village on long-term assignments. "Come here Naruto! Face your punishment like a man!'

"But if I do, then I won't be a man anymore!" The blond called back as his mother figure decided to focus on him this time.

"Not my problem!"

"Don't you fucking dare sensei! I like that part of him!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I've called this meeting to announce that in one week the Chunin Exams shall take place here in Konoha." Sarutobi announced to a room full of jonin, all of which were sensei's to genin teams. "Before any of you sign your teams up I must inform you that I was recently contacted by Onoki of Iwagakure. He informed me that he is sending a single team of genin to our Exams this time. As the Chunin Exam is an international event I could not legally bar him from doing so. I just felt it would be prudent to inform you incase you wish to change your decision to enlist your genin." Hiruzen explained.

"Is there something particular about these genin Hokage-sama?" A jonin with a green spandex suit and black bowl cut asked.

"I haven't been informed about the genin however their sensei is Kurotsuchi, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter." The old man replied getting the jonin to nod and a few to murmur under their breath about how Iwa was coming to the exams. While it was true the event was international, it was a sort of unspoken rule among the great five, Konoha and Iwa especially, to never send genin to enemy hosted Exams. It was mainly due to how the outsider teams would usually be focused on by the home village teams and slaughtered. That Onoki would send a team to Konoha despite this meant the team was strong, he was planning something else, or both.

"Is there anything else Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked and the old man shook his head.

"No. So now let me officially open the table for any of you who wish to enlist your genin." Sarutobi announced before various jonin began stepping forward, each offering up their genin for the exams. Kakashi took a moment to think about his team had been recently before making his decision. Sai was still strong and hiding his full power which was already chunin level so he was fine. Sasuke had been relentlessly training to try and get over the humiliation the Iwa group left on them from Nami so the boy was near the average chunin in strength. And Sakura had picked up her training as well, mostly out of the fear that she could be killed but it was still an improvement. Kind of. She still didn't train as much as she should but she was leagues better than she was before Nami. Thinking on it, she wasn't ready for chunin rank. However he could still enter her to hopefully enforce just how dangerous this life truly is and get the girl to act serious. Between Sai and Sasuke, the average chunin hopeful wouldn't pose a major threat so Kakashi nodded to himself before walking forward and enlisting his team. Now to tell them about their chance for promotion.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**(6 days later)**

"Alright team, stay sharp. We're about to enter enemy territory." Kurotsuchi remarked as she led her genin into Konoha. The had arrived the day before the Exams which would give her students a night to relax and explore before testing themselves. As they entered they were called over to the gate to be marked in. "Keep your hood up Naruto-kun." The woman muttered before walking over, Naruto wearing the same hooded jacket he did in Nami. As they came up to the gate they saw a couple chunin their, one handling civilian entries while the other was handling the Shinobi ones.

"Welcome to Konoha." The chunin remarked as he held out a clipboard. "All visitors must sign heir name an purpose for arrival." His voice sounded bored, as if it was the same thing he had to say to everyone that walked through the gates. It likely was.

"That's fine. I'm just here to put my genin through the Exams." Kurotsuchi told them as she signed her name down. She then stepped aside as her genin filled out their names one by one, Naruto smirking as he did so before the chunin gave them a tired grin.

"Yeah, we were warned about you ahead of time. It's just procedure. Your hotel is just down main street and the Academy is the large building near the Hokage mansion. The first part of the Exams will be there tomorrow at noon." He explained so Kurotsuchi nodded and started walking off with her genin. The chunin just set the clipboard down after a quick glance at the names, not noticing that one was marked as _Namikaze _Naruto.

"Okay you three, we'll likely have two rooms so I'll bunk in one and the three of you will share the other." Kurotsuchi started before being interrupted.

"Can Kurai stay with you sensei? I want to have some fun with Naruto-kun." Hikari grinned at the obvious twitch to the woman's eye from both being interrupted and from the question. Honestly, wasn't it bad enough that they did this all the time in Iwa? Now they had to start it in Konoha too?

"No." Was the flat response. "Anyways, after we drop our things off, feel free to explore the village. However, don't cause any trouble. We don't want to get kicked out before we even have a chance. But don't go unarmed either. If Konoha is anything like home then there will be a few assholes that want revenge for something in the last war or two." The woman explained getting the three to nod as they reached their hotel. After checking in and leaving their supplies in their assigned rooms, the group split in two. Kurotsuchi to go find something to eat and the genin to simply explore.

"So this is the supposed strongest of the five huh?" Naruto mused as he walked around with an arm around Hikari's waist to hold her close and the other in his pocket. The girl had her head on his shoulder and was looking around as he did. The hooded blond let his eyes linger on his fathers' face on the Hokage Monument for a moment before looking away. "It doesn't seem so impressive."

"It's a little too green for my tastes." Hikari commented before glancing at Kurai who was walking behind them and studying everything about the village with narrowed eyes. "What's your opinion Kurai?"

"… It's too calm." He answered after a moment of silence. "I believe the belief of their superiority has gone to their heads and they have come to think of themselves as invincible. I would like the chance to test that belief." Naruto chuckled as Hikari grinned.

"Yeah well maybe you will bud. We've just gotta focus on the exams first." Naruto commented before the three heard shouting a short distance away. "Wanna go check out who's screaming?" Hikari shrugged and Kurai nodded so Naruto followed the voices.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Let me go ya big jerk!"

"Why should I brat? You ran into me!" A teen wearing a black outfit with face paint on claimed as he held up a young boy wearing a helmet and scarf by his yellow shirt. "I think brats like you need to learn a bit about respect." He muttered darkly as he balled his empty hand up into a fist.

"Just let him go Kankuro. He's nothing but a brat anyways." A girl with blonde hair styled into four pigtails said as she adjusted the large metal fan on her back.

"Don't worry Temari, this will only take a second." Kankuro replied as Temari rolled her eyes.

"You should let him go!" Sakura shouted but did nothing to actually help as she was scared about what the Suna genin may do. She had just been walking along thinking about the Exams when the boy had run past her and bumped into the foreign genin. She had instantly recognized their headbands marking them as Suna ninja and given the Exams they had been told about she knew that was what they were there for. "If you cause any trouble then you'll be kicked out of the village and won't be able to take part in the Exams!" She old the two. Temari scoffed as Kankuro chuckled.

"You really think that's a threat?" Kankuro taunted as he held the boy tighter in his grip. "Nobody'll care if I teach a single brat some manners."

"But that's not some brat there Suna boy." A voice called out from behind making them turn around and see Naruto and his team walking up. Sakura paled as Kankuro and Temari narrowed their eyes but didn't do anything. "That's the Sandaime Hokage's grandson. I know cause we were briefed on important faces before coming and that kid is kinda up there due to his old gramps. There's probably an ANBU around here somewhere watching the kid. Hit him and you probably will be kicked out." Naruto told him as he and Hikari shared a grin at how Sakura was staring at them in terror.

"This kid? The Hokage's grandson?" Kankuro question as he shook Konohamaru in his hand. Naruto nodded so the Suna boy growled and tossed him back where he landed on his back next to Sakura. "Ya got lucky punk. Next time, Kage relation or not, I'll pound ya." Kankuro taunted before turning back to Naruto. "So, who're you?"

"Oh, just a competitor in the Exams, like you." Naruto commented while Hikari giggled at his side. Suddenly he whipped his free hand up to catch the pebble thrown at his face. "Now that wasn't very nice weakling. I almost get the idea you don't like me." Naruto joked as he turned his gaze up to the tree where Sasuke was glaring at Naruto.

"What're you doing here you fucking bastard?" Naruto blinked under his hood and gestured to himself in an overdramatic manner that had Hikari struggling to hold back her laughter.

"Oh, you remember me? Hear that Hikari-chan? The weakling remembered us." Naruto joked to the girl he held getting her to laugh.

"I wonder if he remembers how badly we humiliated him and his team?" She teased as Naruto added his own input.

"Or how about how we turned his big successful mission into an even bigger humiliating failure?"

"I bet he's just mad because he can't get laid." Hikari taunted with Naruto getting both to laugh as Sasuke jumped down next to Sakura and glared at the pair while Sakura was shaking behind him. Kankuro and Temari were standing off to the side in confusion as Kurai stayed behind watching with an impassive face.

"Answer me you bastards!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto and Hikari just laughed harder at his anger.

"Oh look, he thinks he can order us around." Naruto commented before holding his free hand out. "But I think he'll learn that he's not the best around here." A pulse of chakra went into his gauntlet as the blade shot out and he pointed it towards Sasuke. "I am." Naruto declared darkly with a confident smirk on his face as Sasuke glared in rage at the hooded blond.

"And who are you?" Everyone looked up at the tree Sasuke had been in to see a red headed boy with the kanji for 'Love' on his forehead and a large gourd on his back. The red head narrowed his gaze at Naruto before vanishing in a Shunshin and appearing in front of the blond as Naruto narrowed his eyes under his hood. The two were silent for a moment before Kyuubi spoke up in Naruto's mind.

"**Kit, that kid is Shukaku's container!"**

'_Shukaku?'_

"**The Ichibi no Tanuki, one of the biju like myself. He's a jinchuriki!"** Naruto's sudden grin scared Temari and Kankuro as it reminded them of the bloodthirsty one their brother constantly wore himself. Naruto was staring to scare them as much as their brother did.

"Well well well, how's it hanging my fellow jinchuriki?" He asked getting the Suna genin to widen their eyes and Konoha ones to narrow theirs in confusion. How did he know Suna's secret? Wait, did he say _fellow _jinchuriki? He was one as well?"

"You as well?" He asked for confirmation and the blond nodded with a small grin.

"I'm nine to your one." Naruto answered. "It's a pleasure to meet you brother." Naruto held out a hand and red head stared at it for a moment before looking back to Naruto's hooded face.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara. Who are you?" He questioned as Shukaku was shouting in his head to be careful around him but at the same time kill him if possible.

"Name's Naruto brother. I'm the strongest genin in Iwa and I'll be heading home a chunin. I just hope some of these tree lovers can give me a good fight." Gaara nodded his head as he glanced back to Sasuke.

"From what I have seen, this village is weak." The Uchiha growled at the obvious jab as Naruto chuckled. Hikari let our a bark of laughter as Kankuro and Temari shared nervous looks at how Naruto and Gaara were apparently getting along somewhat. It was a change for Gaara since he was the 'kill fist, ask questions never' kind of person.

"Yeah, those two especially. We saw them on our last mission. Got to mock them and their sensei to their face and get away without a scratch. He couldn't even throw a punch without starting a war." The blond taunted as Sasuke clenched his fists, both remembering the brief meeting with very different emotions.

"I'm going to kill you for that humiliation." He growled as Naruto just unwrapped his arm from Hikari and stepped forward to spread his arms and mockingly gesture for Sasuke to attack. Gaara silently watched in some small interest as Hikari was smiling in amusement.

"By all means weakling, go for it." Sasuke growled and was about to run at him when he froze as there was a blood red blade held to his neck. He followed it to see Kurai standing behind him holding the blade over his shoulder, not even focusing on the Uchiha but his own teammate instead. Despite how Kurai didn't seem to be paying attention to him, he still kept the blade near his throat and was ready to cut his head off for one wrong more.

"Sensei said not to cause trouble Naruto." The blond frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm not causing trouble. I'm just chatting with the locals."

"Naruto…"

"Fine, take away my fun. Fucking prick." Naruto muttered before turning around and pulling Hikari to him again. The girl had frowned at how Kurai had stopped the show but brought her grin back when Naruto grabbed her. She quickly pecked him on the cheek before the two started walking away. "See ya in the Exams brother. Let's go Kurai." The blade at Sasuke's neck vanished in a puff of black smoke as the boy followed after his teammates. Sasuke stood shaking in both fear and anger at how he had almost been killed and didn't even notice as Gaara turned to his own teammates.

"Baki wants us." He told them before walking off on his own. Kankuro and Temari exchanged nervous glances before walking after their younger brother as Sakura collapsed to her knees.

"Sasuke-kun, if monsters like that are in the Exams… I don't think we should-" The girl tried to plead as Sasuke glared at her for a second to make her be quiet.

"Sakura, if you quit and cost me my chance at payback then I'll kill you myself." Sasuke snapped at her, his eyes returning to Naruto's back. "I'm going to kill him for all the humiliation he's put me through." The boy declared before storming off for last minute training. Sakura stayed on the ground wondering what she could do before getting up and heading for her home as Konohamaru had gotten up and run away when Sasuke had first showed up.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You bumped into two members of Hatake's team?" Kurotsuchi asked as she met up with her students at their hotel room after dinner. The genin had gone to a small ramen stand Naruto had found and was instantly in love with. The entire time they were there he kept trying to convince the man who owned it and his daughter to move to Iwa so he could have their ramen all the time. The blond kept praising the ramen makers for their delicious food and offering various outrageous, and impossible, perks but the two had kindly told him that while happy he enjoyed their food they loved Konoha and weren't going to leave. Much to Naruto's disappointment as he had started pouting until Hikari had kissed him and told him to just eat.

"Yep, the Uchiha and his little pink haired weakling teammate." Naruto answered.

"Yeah and the girl was terrified of us and the Uchiha wanted to kill us!" Hikari added on cheerfully as Kurai sighed.

"Naruto intentionally provoked the Uchiha into almost starting a conflict had I not intervened." The boy admitted getting Naruto to pout at him for both ratting him out and depriving him of a fight. The jonin sighed before giving the older teen a small smile.

"One, thank you Kurai." Kurotsuchi started before smacking Naruto hard in the head. "And two, what the hell?! Did I not say 'don't start any trouble'? And what's the first thing you go and do? Seriously Naruto-kun, what the hell?!" She shouted as she glared at the boy that was crouched down holding his head.

"OW! I was just joking around. I know we aren't supposed to start shit."

"Oh Naruto-kun, want me to kiss your head and make it better?" Hikari teased as she draped herself over his back with a grin.

"That's not the only head you can kiss…" He teased back getting her to giggle and Kurotsuchi to sigh and smack both of them.

"OW!"

"Quit it you two. It's bad enough you do this shit at home. Don't do it here to."

"But we like to _do _it." They answered cheerfully in unison earning another smack to their heads. "OW!"

"No. Now just get some sleep for tomorrow." Kurotsuchi sighed before walking out of their room and going to her own across the hall. Naruto just grinned and jumped into his bed as Hikari hopped in with him. Kurai took the bed on the opposite side of the room as their bags were lying on the unused third bed in the room.

"So, what do you think is first for the Exams?" Naruto asked and Hikari shrugged.

"Don't know."

"It will be taking place in Konoha's Academy. As such I doubt it will be a physical test first unless we are brought to another area. I believe an intelligence test of some type will be first before we begin the more physical portions of the Exams." Kurai laid out and Naruto and Hikari both nodded.

"Makes sense. Have you ever taken the exams Kurai?" The boy shook his head no so Naruto shrugged. "Oh well. I guess we'll just have to wing it and hope for the best. I just hope there isn't any strategy shit."

"Just because that's your weak point." Hikari teased as he growled before he pulled her onto his lap and gently nibbled on her earlobe.

"Just like your ears are yours Hikari-chan." He mumbled getting the girl to moan. It was the easiest way to drive the girl into a frenzy the blond had discovered and she was already breathing heavier and squirming on his lap.

"N-Naruto-kun, not wi-with Kurai here." She managed to get out as his playing with her ears was starting to turn her on. The boy stopped before looking over to their teammate as if he just remembered that fact.

"Oh yeah, he's here. Hey Kurai, why don't you go leave for a couple hours?"

"No." The boy replied before lying down and going to sleep. Naruto glared at him as he covered himself up and ignored his teammates.

"Fucking cock block." The blond muttered as Hikari spun around to face him and just pushed him down on his back.

"Oh just deal with it Naruto-kun. We can have all the fun we want later. Besides I actually do want some sleep right now." She told him so he groaned but relented and wrapped his arms around Hikari before kissing her gently.

"Fine." He groaned as he pulled the covers over them and Hikari teasingly ran a hand over his member before rolling off him onto his right and leaning her head on his shoulder. The blond shuddered at her touch and mock glared at her as she just closed her eyes to ignore the look and go to sleep.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You two ready?" Naruto asked as he stood in front of the Academy with Kurai and Hikari. The two nodded so he grinned and opened the doors. "Then let's make oji-sama proud!" He cheered as they walked in. They knew they needed to reach room 301 so they kept their eyes open to see all the rooms on the first floor were only in the 100's. "Guess we've gotta go up." Naruto commented as they headed for the stairs. However at the top they saw a large crowd gathered around one room in particular that said it was 301. "Hikari-chan, Kurai," Naruto whispered. "Correct me if I'm wrong but there's a genjutsu here isn't there? I'm not too good at the subtle ones."

"There is. Plus we're only on the second floor and the signs all around us are in the 200's. How stupid can people get?" Hikari asked as she scowled at how so many were falling for such a weak trick. Kurai frowned but then nudged his head towards another staircase.

"We can continue onwards from there." The two younger genin looked to where he suggested and grinned at the sight of more stairs.

"Good, then let's leave these wimps behind." Naruto muttered as they walked past. As they left they heard shouting behind them and glanced back to see a boy in green spandex get knocked down by two boys standing in front of the fake room. "Heh, some people will believe anything I guess." The Iwa genin continued up until they reached the third floor and saw that the rooms were all in the 300 range. With a quick turn down a hall they soon reached 301 and walked in just to be blasted by the combined killing intent of everyone in the room. Hikari blinked in surprise before shrugging while Kurai didn't react at all. Naruto however paused before grinning. "Not bad, not bad." He commented nonchalantly. "Here's mine." He called out as his eyes glowed red under his hood and everyone in the room froze from the feeling of something large hovering just out of view waiting to kill them. Most flinched away from the doors while a single young Kunoichi from Taki dropped to her knees with tears on her face.

"Not bad Naruto-kun, you made one cry." Hikari pointed out as the blond cut his intent off and laughed. The blond grabbed a seat near the doorway and propped his feet on the table while Hikari sat down in his lap and Kurai leaned against the table. "So now what?"

"We wait for the test to begin." Kurai commented as he pointed towards a clock on the far wall that read eleven forty-five.

"Fifteen minutes?" Hikari whined with a childish pout. "But I'll get bored." Kurai shrugged his shoulders as Naruto grinned.

"I can keep your attention that long Hikari-chan."

"Oh really?" She asked as Naruto just smirked and pulled her down into a kiss with one hand while the other was wrapped around her waist. The girl pulled back with a smirk of her own as she brushed her hair back. "Oh yeah. That'll keep me occupied." She commented before going back in for another kiss. As the two ignored their surroundings and instead focused only on the other, the doors opened again and Sasuke, Sakura and Sai walked in. Sakura was looking around fearfully while Sai was sizing up the competition for possible threat levels. Sasuke however looked around before focusing in on the hooded Iwa nin that was busy making out with his teammate before growling.

"There you are." He muttered before he was cut off from his thoughts as Ino jumped on his back.

"Sasuke-kun! I missed you!"

"Get off him Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted, forgetting her fear of the Iwa team she hadn't noticed yet and instead focusing on her blond rival. Ino stuck her tongue out childishly as she pulled down an eyelid with a finger. Walking up from behind her were her teammates Shikamaru and Choji, the first looking like he was going to fall asleep at any moment and the latter snacking on some chips.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Choji asked between mouthfuls as Sasuke shrugged Ino off him, much to her disappointment as she pouted.

"Hey look, it's the other rookies!" Kiba called out as he walked up, Hinata and Shino at his side. The boy grinned as he came among his friends and Hinata offered a shy bow in greeting as Shino just nodded. "What's up guys?"

"I didn't know you were here Kiba. I didn't think they let dogs in." Ino taunted as the boy scoffed.

"Well at least a dog can fight. What's a flower gonna do? Stink me to death?" He shot back as the girl huffed.

"You guys might want to keep it down." The rookies all turned to see a boy with silver hair and glasses wearing a purple outfit walking up. "That pair from Iwa's been glaring at you for the past couple minutes." He pointed out as true enough Naruto and Hikari were glaring. They were fine just making out but were finding the rookies' extremely loud voices to be annoying.

"Them!" Sakura cried before hiding behind Sasuke as the boy glared right back and Sai narrowed his eyes at the obvious very large threat. The others though were wondering why they would react like that.

"You've met them before?" Ino asked Sakura as the girl nodded.

"They're monsters. They slaughtered an innocent man and doomed an entire country to ruin and laughed about it." She explained as their eyes widened and they all glanced at the Iwa team.

"I've taken the Exams before." Kabuto started explaining as he knelt down and pulled out a stack of orange cards. "As such I've managed to gather info on just about everyone here, even you guys. So let's see what I have on them." He told them before shuffling through his cards and pulling out three of them and flipping them over to reveal they were blank. "They're encoded to my chakra, so only I can reveal the info they hold." Kabuto said as he channeled his chakra and the three cards lit up with pictures of the three and words about them.

"So, what's it say?" Sasuke asked as he glanced down at the cards before looking back to see that Naruto was smirking as Hikari had a toothy grin on her face. Even Kurai had glanced towards them

"Well, it's their first time in the Exams apparently. The taller one is named Kurai and this is apparently his third team and sensei as the previous died on missions of which he was the only survivor. I don't have anything on skills though. The girl is Hanamaru Hikari and is apparently the clan heiress. Again, no info on skills. The last one though, wait this can't be right…" He muttered as he looked at Naruto's picture and then back to hooded blonde.

"What is it?" Kiba asked as Akamaru whined on his head. Something about Naruto's chakra was scaring the pup. Hikari hopped off Naruto as the boy set his feet down while keeping up his smirk and pointing to the card Kabuto held. "They can hear us?" The boy asked in shock before Naruto vanished from the chair.

"Channeling chakra to your ears kinda has that effect Inuzuka." A voice commented from behind him. Kiba shouted in surprise and leapt forward as they all spun around to see Naruto standing there with a rather large grin at getting such a reaction. "What's the matter? Did I scare you?" The blond taunted as Hikari pushed the Inuzuka aside and walked up to Naruto.

"No fair Naruto-kun, I'm not that fast." She pouted as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her.

"Sorry Hikari-chan, but I wanted to see what this little card has on me." He replied as he pulled away and held up the card Kabuto had been holding a few second earlier.

"Sensei said not to cause trouble." Kurai remarked as he walked up to stand with his teammates. Naruto and Hikari rolled their eyes in unison as the girl spun around and leaned back against Naruto and he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah, yesterday. Today's different. Besides, I'm not causing trouble I'm just seeing what the enemy knows about me." Naruto replied before looking at his card. "Let's see my full name, surprising since I never use that one part of it. How I'm an adopted member of the Tsuchikage's family, common knowledge in Iwa." The boy muttered before seeing his status as a jinchuriki on the card. "And my status as a jinchuriki which is, like my family, common knowledge in Iwa." The boy remarked before tearing the card to pieces. "So what, pray tell, couldn't be right?" Naruto asked as Kabuto backed away from the genin with his hands raised.

"Your name. That shouldn't be possible since it would mean you're-"

"His kid? Well yeah I am." Naruto cut him off getting Kabuto to go wide eyed as the other Konoha genin were now wondering who he was referring too as well as staying frightened of him. "But I don't think the other brats here should hear that bit just yet. I mean, no point in scaring them too bad." His eyes flashed red under his hood as he sent a small dosage of killing intent at the glasses wearing boy. "So don't say it. Got me?"

"Yes." Kabuto remarked, shaking in fear. Or at least acting like it. In his mind the Oto spy was wondering if Orochimaru knew and why the man didn't tell him if he did. Kabuto knew his true master had tried recruiting Iwa but the venture had only yielded a possibility. Kabuto and Orochimaru even didn't know if the village had accepted his proposal yet, only that they were sending a single team to the Exams that was guaranteed to make it to the finals. The Konoha genin stayed back except for Sasuke who growled and stepped forward and stood in front of Naruto even as the looked bored at the boy's mere presence.

"I'm going to kill you in these Exams." Naruto grinned as Hikari let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh I'd certainly pay to see that weakling. Now why don't you go back to playing with your wooden kunai and run around acting like a ninja since you're obviously not strong enough to be one." Naruto taunted as Sasuke growled and was about to punch him when Naruto's hand whipped up and grabbed the boy by his throat and lifted him up, all while his other arm was still wrapped around his grinning lover while his head was resting on her shoulder.

"Sasuke/-kun!" The other rookies shouted as Naruto held the boy up, who was gripping his wrist to try and make him let go. However when Hikari glared at the genin they all stopped, scared at what they would do to their 'Rookie of the Year'.

"What's the matter Uchiha? Can't live up to the family name?" Naruto taunted as he held Sasuke up. The boy was gasping for breath and clawing at his gauntlet covered wrist in an attempt to make him let go but Naruto's grip never loosened. "You're going to shut your mouth and leave me and my team be. I can't stand weaklings like you. I've seen your type around Iwa and it pisses me off. You walk and talk like the very air you breath is holy just because of a name. Well I love showing pricks like you that you're nothing special. So get your shit together if you want to live. Cause if you keep up this holier-than-thou attitude you bandy about, I _will _kill you." Naruto told him before throwing him to the ground by his teammates. The other genin tensed to prepare a possible attack before multiple clouds of smoke erupted at the front of the room. When it all cleared they saw multiple chunin wearing matching gray uniforms and one jonin wearing a black version of the uniform with a trench coat on top of it while he had a bandanna on in place of the regular headband and his face was covered in scars.

"Everyone settle down! I am Morino Ibiki and I am the proctor of the first part of the Chunin Exams!" He called out before noticing Sasuke on the ground and how he and the other rookies were glaring at the Iwa team. "Iwa genin, what the hell are you doing?"

"The prick was pissing me off so I just messed with him a bit. The pansy'll be fine in a minute. Don't worry about it." Naruto answered as Sasuke got to his feet while rubbing his throat and glaring at Naruto. Ibiki narrowed his eyes at the answer before letting it drop.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood boy. I'll let that go this time. From now on though, there is to be no fighting without my express permission!" Ibiki called out along with sending out a burst of his killing intent. "Now come up here to get a number for your seat, it's time to start the Chunin Exams."


	15. Arc 3 Chapter 2

**KnightOfZaku: **Well I didn't mean to give off that impression, but it makes sense how you came to it now. Anyways, Naruto will never be trained by Orochimaru though the man would and will definitely want him under his wing. As for Hirashin, my Naruto will gain something similar to canon in that he'll become so fast that people with think he's using Hirashin but in reality he'll be using pure speed like Naruto's yellow Kyuubi cloak does.

**Kid Buu: **Yes it will. In fact as they get older it will get even worse (or better depending on whose asked).

**roboguy45: **Oh Sasuke is still focused on Itachi. It's just that Naruto is both his age and right in his face. Sasuke currently sees Naruto as the easier objective since he doesn't believe he's stronger than his brother (which I'll admit Naruto currently is nowhere close to) so he's going to focus on the easier target. Plus with Naruto right there continually taunting him his hatred for the blond is only growing and making him Sasuke's target even more since Sasuke doesn't have to hunt him down like he does Itachi.

**reven228: **Ocelot from Metal Gear Solid right? I'll admit I'm not entirely familiar with the series outside of a few references. I just think the Metal Gears look badass.

**Epicweaver: **Well technically all of Arc Two took place over the course of slightly more than six months like Naruto canon had for just the Nami arc. Plus, Hikari and Naruto had known each other since their Academy days, they just didn't interact much at all until they became teammates and then they had those six months to get closer. And yes, while it is a big jump to go from confessions to sex in only what accounted for a couple weeks, they're different. It'll be revealed this chapter at the end but Hikari is something of a pervert and since she has someone now she's going to explore her desires with her boyfriend. While Naruto himself isn't as big a pervert as her, he's not going to argue her advances since its highly doubtful that any straight male would turn down free sex from the woman they loved. It may be a bit rushed, but it just happens to be how they get along.

**The King of Ranting: **Who says anyone will stop or help Gaara? The Suna jinchuriki is getting very different treatment from his canon counterpart here. As for Naruto's weights, you'll get a small tell about them in the preliminaries.

**SinOfDisaster: **Yes, Naruto will be essentially steamrolling through the preliminaries. Out of all the canon entries to the event, the only two that could reasonably stand up to him currently are Gaara and Kabuto. One because he's a jinchuriki and the other because he's really a spy and elite jonin. Naruto's own teammates are above the genin in the Exams as well, just not to the same extreme he is. To be honest, the Exams are going to be very easy for Naruto and his teammates. it's the after where things will begin to get harder, both with the Invasion and all the arcs that follow.

**Authors' Note: **Alright, I got a couple reviews and PMs asking about how Naruto's heritage and status as a jinchuriki could both be common knowledge in Iwa yet at the same time the rest of the world would be in the dark about it. A couple people gave me some very well thought out points about both Danzo's and Jiraiya's separate spy networks or how Naruto used his real name and other obvious factors about how obvious I made it despite nobody apparently knowing. My reasoning behind this is…

…

…uh… oops?

Yeah I wasn't really putting much thought into it at the time as it just seemed to me like it would stay a secret since practically nobody in the Naruto world outside of the most elite of elite actually pay attention to anything. Like the fact that it was obvious as hell that Naruto was the Yondaime's kid and yet only a handful knew. Seriously, he looked just like the guy, it's common knowledge that jinchuriki have some kind of connection to their Kage in order to aid in loyalty issues and the man was known for putting everything about the village first so he'd be more than willing to sacrifice himself and his own son to stop the beast and yet nobody. Fucking. Knew. Yeah that was a major 'WTF?!' in canon so I didn't put much thought into having Iwa actually hide the boy. Now they didn't openly brag about him, he was just a sort of open secret. He was there and if asked they'd tell who and what he was but otherwise didn't put any thought into it and didn't really talk about it because it didn't matter.

Now while this would make the common civilian and even the average Shinobi not know, for those with access to spy networks it brings up the question of why nobody knew. Again, I don't really have an answer as they should know by now. For the purpose of my story though they don't. The reason Naruto got away with writing his real name is because the chunin wasn't paying attention and if everything checked out then there wasn't any need to go into detail about the team so he didn't pay any mind to their names. So I can't really say anything except for the purpose of my story, they had no clue alright? It's all I can give as I don't have an argument in favor of it.

To be honest though, other fanfictions have asked for bigger 'WTF?!' to be ignored so this is kind of minor really.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Two - **Fear the Forest

"Now come up here to get a number for your seat, it's time to start the Chunin Exams." Ibiki shouted as the genin all did as he said. Naruto and Hikari shared a quick kiss before separating for their seats as Kurai took his own silently. Kurai found himself near Kabuto while Hikari was far in the back row. Naruto was grinning at his placement though as he found himself right next to Sakura who kept glancing at him from the corner of her eyes as she was shivering in her seat from her fear of him. The chunin took seats along the walls of the room as two more passed out papers and laid them face down in front of the genin. "Alright now listen up, I'm only going to explain the rules once!" Ibiki shouted to get all attention on him. "First off, this is a reverse point test! What that means is that you start with a perfect score and lose a point for every wrong or empty answer you give! Secondly, the test is timed! You only have one hour to answer all ten questions! Third; there will be no cheating in this test! If any of my chunin helpers catch you cheating then they will take away two points! So get caught five times and you fail!" Many eyes narrowed at that rule but Ibiki continued. "And finally, the tenth question is special and will only be given ten minutes before the hour is up."

'_Cheating just costs you points and a special question? Something's not right here…' _Naruto mused. Others all across the room were thinking along the same lines as Ibiki turned around to look at the clock before turning around.

"Begin!" He shouted so people flipped their tests over and began to work on their answers.

'_Lets see here… Complex algorithms, decoding ciphers, hypothetical situations no normal genin would have any experience in… This test is rigged to be too tough for genin.' _Naruto thought as he scowled. He glanced around the room with just his eyes to notice how many were cheating or confused before smirking. _'Of course, that's why cheating is just point loss and not an instant fail. They want us to cheat.' _He thought before seeing that Sakura was answering all her questions on her own._ 'Well well, apparently the weakling is pretty smart. But I think I've got a way to take advantage of this.' _Naruto thought as he covered his paper with his arm and began drawing on his test paper.

Hikari sighed as she answered another question by using a simple clan jutsu to see he answers of the person in front of her. She glanced around the room and smirked as her eyes landed on Naruto. _'I wonder what you're going to do? Kurai has the experience to answer most of these on his own and I've got myself a clan jutsu to get mine. But what about you? How will you get your answers Naruto?' _The girl wondered before seeing how he was next to Sakura. _'Oh please do something to her too, it would be so funny!'_

Naruto finished his picture and then turned his test over before smirking as he had only wasted thirty minutes of his test. He glanced around again and grinned at seeing how Sakura had all but three answers filled in. _'That's good enough for me. Hey Kyuubi, wanna scare everyone here?' _Naruto asked the biju as it grinned inside the seal.

"**Yeah, I wanna say **_**hi **_**to Konoha again." **Naruto suppressed the chuckle that almost escaped him as he instead started tapping out a message in Morse Code for his teammates.

Light, Dark; Red wants to say hi.

Hikari and Kurai instantly knew the message was for them as their names literally translated as Light and Dark respectively, just as they also knew Red meant Kyuubi. It was the code Kurotsuchi set up between the team early on for coded messages. Naruto was gold, Kyuubi was red, Hikari was light, Kurai was dark and Kurotsuchi herself was black. Unless someone knew there names beforehand, it would ensure confusion among any who tried to figure it out. Hikari smirked in her seat as she set her pencil down and waited while Kurai merely sighed and stopped his work. The other genin who understood Morse Code were wondering both who it was meant for and what it meant entirely as Naruto closed his eyes. He channeled a small amount of Kyuubi's chakra into his system before opening his now glowing red eyes and letting his killing intent wave over the room. Most of the genin instantly started shaking in their seats while the chunin froze for a second before trying to identify the source. Next to him Sakura passed out from being too close to him and the blond smirked. While still broadcasting his intent the blond pulled Sakura's paper out from her and replaced it with his own. It was only then he let up on the intent and allowed the room to calm down. Many genin instantly started cursing and shouting for who did that while the chunin shouted to regain order. Throughout the entire thing, Ibiki kept his eyes on Naruto, having been able to identify the source of the killing intent after only a second of it washing over the room. _'So, you distract everyone with a widespread blanket of your killing intent and then snatch the paper next to you. Not exactly subtle and ineffective in the big leagues but more than enough for a bunch of genin. And what's more is I can only dock you two points for that stunt. Well played boy.' _The scarred man thought as Naruto erased Sakura's name from the test and filled in his own.

Naruto grinned as he looked over his answers and saw how most were complete. He then noticed how Sakura was still passed out next to him and lightly chuckled. _'So weak.' _He thought as he kicked her leg to wake her back up. The girl jumped slightly in her seat as she went wide eyed and looked around. She then scowled and looked at Naruto just for him to grin and make her look away with a shiver. The girl sighed and decided to focus back on her paper before looking down and shouting. "WHAT THE HELL!?" She screamed at seeing a picture of her with her head chopped off and Sasuke and Sai in the background impaled on spikes. At the bottom of the picture was a caption that read _'Your future weakling'._

"78, quiet down!" Ibiki shouted at the girl and she looked up.

"But he-"

"Shut up or leave my room!" Ibiki interrupted getting the girl to stutter for a moment before hanging her head and slumping down in her seat. She noticed how Naruto was chuckling quietly in his seat and glanced at his paper to see how it was written in _her _hand-writing. The boy caught her gaze and quickly picked up his pencil before scribbling a note at the bottom of the paper. _'Try to take it back. I dare you.' _The girl huffed and rubbed her eyes as tears were threatening to form before she started erasing the picture from her new paper so that she could rewrite her answers out.

From her seat in the back Hikari had her head down and both hands over her mouth to try and suppress her laughter at what happened to Sakura. She'd have to ask Naruto what he did afterwards. Up front Kurai sighed as he returned to his work, obviously knowing Naruto had done something. Again. Kabuto spared a slightly worried glance at the stoic boy next to him before getting back to his answers. A few rows away Sasuke glared at the blond somehow knowing it was all his fault. _'I will kill you!'_

Kurai continued his work before pausing as a small scrap of paper was tossed onto his test. Without alerting the proctors he palmed it and then glanced to his right where Kabuto was tapping one corner of his paper while chewing on a finger nail as if stuck. Following the unsaid cue the Iwa teen looked at the corner he was tapping to see a message.

Oto spy. Read after test.

Kurai turned away but minutely nodded his head in response. Kabuto sighed before erasing the message, still playing up the part of a struggling genin. It was a short while later that Ibiki called for them to stop.

"Alright that's enough! Everyone put your pencils down or get out!" Needless to say the scarred jonin was obeyed. "It's time for the tenth question! But first, this question has a few extra rules. Rule one, you have to choose whether or not to take the question."

"Well that seems stupid. Why wouldn't we take it?" Temari called out.

"Because if you get this question wrong not only do you fail but you'll be barred from taking the exams ever again!" Ibiki shouted.

"No way! There's others who've taken this test before!" Kiba shouted as others yelled their agreements about how unfair Ibiki was being. The man silenced hem with a blast of his killing intent.

"Silence! I wasn't proctor to those Exams so they got lucky. But I rule here and what I say goes. And I say if you fuck this question up then you can't go to the Exams ever again! I also say the next person to interrupt me fails instantly so shut up!" He shouted making them all be quiet. "Now the second rule to this question is that if one member of your team fails or chooses not to take it, the entire team fails with them!" This brought some grumbles but nobody spoke up seeing as he was threatening instant failure for actually speaking. "Now, here's your choice; either take the question and risk it all or raise your hand and leave right now to try again next time." Everyone was silent before a genin raised his hand, apologizing to his teammates as he did. The three had their numbers called out before they left.

Their act seemed to open the floodgates to more withdrawals as genin after genin began to give up. Naruto grinned in his seat as he leaned back and even put his feet up on the table, crossing his hands behind his head as he did. Sakura fearfully glanced at the blond and shakily started to raise her hand before her eyes caught Sasuke and saw him glaring at her. He shook his head no so she motioned to Naruto but he just shook his head harder so she slumped in her chair and put her hand back down, the hooded blond chuckling in his seat next to her at how she gave in to Sasuke and was scared of him.

Noticing how Naruto seemed to be relaxing and was nonchalant about his chance at failure Ibiki decided to single him out for some questioning. "Iwa boy, with the hood! Why are you so calm?" The blond perked up before gesturing around the room.

"Because watching cowards is fun. And because I can always get a battlefield promotion from Tsuchikage-oji-sama later if I really cared about rank."

"So you don't care about the risk? What, do you think you're invincible or something?" Naruto shook his head.

"I'm not invincible, Kaa-chan and nii-san both kick my ass all over our training grounds enough for me to know that. But as for the risk? Who cares? There's always risk in missions, this is no different. And like I said, I can just get a battlefield promotion later if I really cared." Ibiki scoffed but noticed the rest of the genin had stopped leaving, many apparently realizing the blond was right about the possibility of a promotion outside the Exams.

"Anyone else want to leave?" He questioned but nobody else took the offer. "Hmph, fine then. I only have one thing to say." He glanced around to see how everyone was focused on him so he smirked. "Congratulations on passing the first Exam!" He shouted getting many to gape at the man, Naruto even took his feet off the table and stared at him.

"That's it?" Ibiki nodded with his smirk still in place at how the genin were all dumbfounded. "Well sweet." Naruto chirped with a grin. "You're a good actor scar-face." The blond complimented and Ibiki scoffed.

"I'm Konoha's top interrogation specialist, masterful acting and skill at mind games are requirements of the job brat." Ibiki commented before Temari spoke up.

"Wait a minute then what's the tenth question?"

"Taking it or not was the tenth question." Ibiki explained. "In the Shinobi world, there's always risk, like the Iwa brat said. But does that mean you can refuse the mission? No! Just because you're to scared to take the plunge doesn't mean you can refuse it! The mission is there and will be done, regardless of your thoughts or feelings on the matter. A chunin is someone who will charge on through their fears to complete the task at hand!" Ibiki finished with a grin.

"Then what about the first nine questions?" A genin asked and Ibiki nodded his head.

"Those were to test your information gathering skills. In our line of work, information is power. You'll sometimes be asked to locate secret materials or spy on a target and make plans based on that info. If your intel is faulty or lacking then your plans may be unraveled. If you're caught then the enemy can make counter plans or feed you false information. A good chunin, a good _Shinobi_, can find the required information and do it without getting caught! Now good luck on your second Exam!" Ibiki cheered just in time for a window near the front of the class to shatter and a cloth to fly in. The cloth unraveled to reveal a woman with purple hair in a ponytail wearing a short skirt and a trench coat over a mesh undershirt. The cloth itself had a message on it saying 'The Sexy and Single proctor of the Second Exam! Mitarashi Anko!'

Most of the genin gaped either at her entrance or her obvious sex appeal before Naruto and Hikari both flipped their papers over with grins and wrote scores before holding them up for her, the blond giving her a nine and Hikari giving Anko an eight. The woman pouted at how they didn't give her perfect tens when Ibiki came out from behind the cover.

"You're early Anko. Again." The woman just smirked and turned to her superior with a laugh.

"Oh come on Ibiki. You say that like it's a bad thing." She commented before counting the genin. "Twenty-eight teams Ibiki? What, are you losing your touch or something? Maybe you should stick with the hardened criminals, genin appear to be too much for ya." She teased as the man sighed.

"Just get going Anko."

"Spoilsport." She muttered before facing the genin again. "Alright maggots, I am Mitarashi Anko, your wonderfully sexy proctor for the second Exam!" She cheered while motioning to herself with a hand at the 'sexy' part. Most of the woman thought she was acting like a tramp while most of the men were finding themselves nodding along with her words in agreement. "Now follow me to the place for the second test. If you're late, you fail!" She shouted before heading back out the window and leaving them behind. Naruto got up to quickly with a grin and opened the window before jumping after her, Hikari and Kurai following as the other genin got up and did the same.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Welcome! To training ground forty-four! Or as the jonin and I call it, the Forest of Death!" Anko cheered from on top of a post while behind her was a very large and dark forest that was fenced off. The trees looked wild while those with advanced hearing could hear the growls and roars of creatures within the wooded area. The genin were gathered below her standing with their teams and looking up to her and the forest.

"The Forest of Death?" Naruto parroted before scoffing, his right arm wrapped around Hikari's shoulders as both looked bored and Kurai was gazing at the training grounds with narrowed eyes. "How lame is that? Couldn't you come up with anything catchier?" Naruto mocked as Anko smirked. In a flash she had whipped a kunai at him that cut his cheek, drawing blood and poking a hole in his hood. Naruto could have dodged but hadn't felt like it and instead wanted to see where the woman would go from there. It wasn't like she could kill him without reason anyways. Anko vanished in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) and appeared behind him and licked the blood from his cheek.

"You know, it's loud mouths like you that spill all the best blood in these woods of mine." She taunted as he just glanced at her from over his shoulder, a somewhat amused expression on his face as he took his arm off Hikari.

"Would it be wrong to say that actually turned me on a little?" He asked getting Anko to grin before jumping back as Hikari took a swing at her, the younger girl giving Anko the dirtiest glare she could.

"Back off bitch, he's my man!" She shouted as Anko laughed and Naruto sighed and hugged Hikari from behind and nibbled slightly on her ear to calm her down.

"Don't worry Hikari-chan. I'm not gonna go for some tree hugger over you." He assured her as Hikari was still glaring at Anko, the woman sill grinning.

"Aw, gaki love! Isn't that sweet?" The older woman taunted before spinning around with a kunai in hand as a Kusa Shinobi appeared over her shoulder, holding the tossed kunai with her strangely large and flexible tongue.

"Your kunai proctor-san." The girl offered as Anko took the weapon with a grin.

"Thanks, but a bit of advice? Don't sneak up on me unless you want a kunai in your kidney."

"My apologies, it's just your kunai cut some of my precious hair and I got a bit excited." The girl apologized before stepping back while Anko pocketed both her kunai.

"Well, looks like we've got some blood-thirsty people here this time! I'm gonna love it." She cheered as Naruto scoffed.

"If you want blood-thirsty then cut Kurai here." He remarked while jabbing a thumb at his teammate that was ignoring them and focusing on the forest. "He'll really get you hot. Maybe you can fuck some personality into him while your at it." He joked as Hikari giggled. Anko smirked but didn't comment as she instead leapt back on top of her post.

"Anyways, this forest is going to be your home for the next five days." She started explaining. She reached into her jacket and pulled out two scrolls, one white with the kanji for Heaven on it and the other a dark blue with the kanji for Earth. "These babies are your Heaven and Earth scrolls. Each team will receive one at random before going inside. Your objective will be to guard your scroll and collect one of the opposite before heading to the tower at the center of the forest. However, it's not that simple. You won't know what scroll your enemies have! Not only that but your time limit of five days means you'll have to keep a tight schedule. The forest is also your enemy as its filled with carnivorous plant and animals, some of which are poisonous or will try to kill you too!" She chirped happily before tossing the scrolls to a group of chunin waiting at the side. "Now, because I don't want all these deaths to come back and bite me in the ass, you all must sign a waiver freeing me and Konoha from any and all responsibility on the chance you die. Trade three signed waivers for one scroll and then pick a gate."

"Any rules?" Naruto called out getting her to chuckle.

"Yep. Rule one; don't open the scrolls! Sometimes chunin are given sensitive documents to transport and you'll be trusted not to open them either so think of this as an extra test. The second rule is that all three team members need to make it to the tower under their own power. If one of you gets crippled or dies then the whole team fails! And finally, there is no quitting during the Exams. You're going in for five days and we won't let you out in between. If any of you try then I'll kick your asses myself and throw you back in. Now sign your waivers maggots! The second test starts in fifteen minutes!" She yelled as a chunin came up and began handing out the paperwork they needed to sign.

"So we go in, kill people until we get the right scroll and then head for the tower? Sounds fun and way too easy to be honest." Naruto commented as he quickly read over his waiver before signing it, Kurai and Hikari doing the same. "Oh well, at least the action's finally starting." He said with a shrug, Hikari nodding in agreement as Kurai turned their waivers in and received an Earth scroll.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I think we should quit Sasuke-kun." Sakura muttered as she glanced at the Iwa team as Sasuke glared at them.

"No! We're going in there and I'm going to kill them in the forest." He growled as he signed his waiver. Sai signed his own without a word but then glanced at the Iwa group.

"I believe it would be best to avoid them. They seem to be extremely powerful and could ruin our chances for promotion." He commented getting Sasuke to round on him. "I am merely stating a fact. Perhaps we can defeat them, perhaps not. But it would be best to focus on the Exams above all else as they are our current objective." The Uchiha growled as Sakura nervously looked at the Iwa team one last time before signing her name.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So what're we doing Kabuto?" One of his teammates asked. The boy adjusted his glasses as he glanced at Sasuke and then Naruto.

"We're leaving the Uchiha's team alone as Orochimaru-sama has plans for him. But I believe we should meet up with the Iwa team at some point. I alerted one of them that I was an Oto spy so perhaps we can get info out of them on whether or not Iwa will be part of the coming battle." The boy mused as his teammates nodded their understanding. However Kabuto was thinking of other things. _'The hooded one… is he really his son? Orochimaru-sama would love to know if he doesn't already. But if he did then why wasn't I warned? And what else could he be hiding from me?' _The white haired boy though as he watched Naruto and Hikari start making out with one another while waiting to be allowed in. _'Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto… you certainly are interesting.'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright, now to find another scroll and get this over with." Kankuro muttered as he pocketed the Heaven scroll they received. Temari nodded but glanced at her brother before seeing how he was staring at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Uh Gaara? Are you alright?" She nervously asked as the boy was silent.

"Why is he accepted by her?" The red head muttered under his breath. "Why is he not hated and feared like I am?" He asked and Temari and Kankuro shared nervous looks.

"Um… I don't know Gaara. Maybe you should ask him after the Exams are over." She suggested so he stared for a moment longer before turning to head off to their gate without a word. "I don't really know if meeting another jinchuriki is a good or bad thing for him." Temari mused as Kankuro shivered.

"I'm more worried about if the other one is as blood-thirsty as Gaara is." The girl nodded in agreement with her brother before the two followed Gaara to their gate.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"The second test starts now!" Anko's voice rang out as all he gates opened and the genin rushed in. Naruto, Hikari and Kurai were running along the grounds before stopping in a clearing and facing one another.

"Alright so any plans for this?" Naruto remarked as Kurai spoke up.

"Before that, I have some info to share." The other two glanced at him so he pulled out the note Kabuto passed to him. "The person you took the card from before the first exam is an Oto spy and he slipped me this message during the test. 'I will find you in the trees on the third day. The great snake wants its answers.' So I feel that even if we receive our required scroll before hand, I believe we should wait until after this meeting to continue onwards to the tower." Hikari glanced at Naruto as the boy shrugged.

"Alright, I don't have a problem with that. Hikari-chan?" The girl shook her head so he turned back to Kurai. "Okay, three days it is. Now what about our scroll issue?" Kurai pulled out the Earth scroll and tossed it to the blond.

"We require one Heaven scroll to pass."

"Or, multiple copies of both to cut down on competition." Hikari commented as she pointed out another plan. Kurai nodded and Naruto sealed the scroll into his jacket for safe keeping. "I mean, we need to make it to the Finals for Tsuchikage-sama to have an excuse to come to Konoha so it'd be best if we cut down the competition now to reduce the chance of failing."

"True but with what we've seen I think my Suna brother is the only one with the ability to actually take us on. Maybe that Oto spy could too if he's actually hiding his real skill." Naruto mused before shrugging. "I don't know, as long as we get a Heaven scroll and move onto the Finals I could care less about the others. Hikari-chan has a point but that's also putting us at risk of being too injured or exhausted for the next Exam."

"Like you can even get exhausted mister endless stamina." The girl muttered so Naruto grinned.

"I didn't hear you complaining about that when I fucked you for three hours straight back home missy." The girl blushed and looked away as Naruto turned back to Kurai. "So what do you think? More scrolls or the bare minimum?" The boy was silent before nodding to himself.

"I think one extra set of scrolls would be in our best interest as a back-up incase our first set is damaged or lost." The younger two nodded at his words as he posed another question. "Now are we to split up and search or stay together?"

"Together." Naruto instantly said. "Going off on your own is nice but you know how horrible my sense of direction is. Plus this is unfamiliar terrain so even you'll have a bit of trouble. Hikari-chan may be able to track us all down and reunite us but I'd rather not make her have to." He commented so Kurai nodded and Hikari shook her head.

"Well then, what're we waiting for?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

'_Good, they made it to the second stage. Once they're in the Finals, all hell will break loose for Konoha.' _Kurotsuchi thought as she was sitting in a lounge area that the other jonin were in. It was relaxing as there were large couches and multiple tables as well as an open bar. The woman was currently sitting by herself at a table near the window and looking out over Konoha. _'Such a weak village. How have they kept their place at the top all these years?' _She wondered.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She turned to see Kakashi coming up and taking a seat across from her. With a slight scowl at the orange book in his hands she turned back to the village.

"I prefer Iwa." The man nodded at her words while he turned the page of his book.

"I think everyone would prefer their own home over other places." Kurotsuchi shrugged as she didn't have an answer to that. "But I didn't come over to ask about your opinion on the view. I wanted to ask you a couple questions."

"I'm taken Hatake. He'd kill you for trying and I wouldn't go for one of you Konoha bastards anyways." She growled lightly as Kakashi shook his head and closed his book.

"I'll admit your beautiful but that's not my intention." She raised and eyebrow so he continued. "On a recent mission, I encountered three young Shinobi from your village. I was wondering who they were and was hoping you'd be willing to share."

'_Oh you want me to sell out my team. Well I may play along…' _Kurotsuchi thought before shrugging. "Describe them, I might know 'em." Kakashi nodded before doing as he was told.

"One had spiky black hair and wore a gray and black outfit but carried no visible weapons pouches. Another was a Kunoichi with purple hair and was from the Hanamaru clan, which I only learned from seeing the clan mark on a pair of red gauntlets she wore. I'd place those two as chunin level but to be honest it was the third I'm most interested in. He wore a hooded black jacket so I didn't see his face and had red gauntlets styled after fox heads on his wrists. His chakra was also off the charts and I'd put him at a low jonin level from the way he carried himself. Do they sound familiar to you?" Kakashi asked as a large grin broke out on Kurotsuchi's face.

"Very familiar actually. I know all three personally." Kakashi gave a sight eye smile at how he was going to hopefully get his answers and inclined his head to her.

"They called themselves one of Iwa's top teams so I figured as the Tsuchikage's granddaughter you'd likely know them." The woman nodded before facing the man with her grin still in place.

"How did you say you'd rank them? Two chunin and a jonin?" Kakashi nodded so she shook her head and laughed. "Well sorry but you're wrong Hatake. They're genin." The man's eye widened as he got a bad feeling in his gut which only got worse as she confirmed his worst fear. "In fact, they're _my _genin." The three powerful threats he was worried about after encountering them at Nami's border were not only genin but were currently in the same Exams as his students? And Sasuke had a major grudge against them while Sakura was terrified of them. If they met in the Exams…

Well shit.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Good job with those leeches Shino." Kiba praised as his team leapt from tree branch to tree branch. Shino nodded while Hinata was looking around with her Byakugan to ensure they weren't snuck up on. "Oh hey, Hinata." Kiba called out as he noticed what she was doing. "You can turn off your eyes. I can smell out anybody before they get close." The girl flinched but nodded as she stopped pushing chakra to her special eyes.

"S-sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's not like you were doing anything wrong. I just didn't think you should waste your chakra when you don't have to." He commented as she nodded her head while looking down. The girl had no confidence and when someone pointed something out to her or made an offer she'd usually flinch and apologize, even when nothing happened or it wasn't her fault. It honestly pissed Kiba off at how her clan had made her like this. Even their sensei was enraged at the Hyuuga clan and normally the only thing that pissed her off were perverts. He was drawn out of his thoughts as Akamaru whined on his head. "Huh? What is it boy?" He asked as he stopped, Shino and Hinata stopping next to him. The dog whined some more before he sniffed the air and looked around. "Hinata, turn your eyes back on. I think we have company." The girl nodded before reactivating her bloodline and looking around as Shino discreetly sent out a few beetles to scout the area. "Akamaru's really spooked by whatever chakra he's sniffin' out. Says something about it being dark and reeking of foxes." He commented as he sniffed the air again before spinning around as he got the smell the strongest from that direction. "We know you're there! Come on out!"

"See Naruto-kun? Trying to hide from an Inuzuka, Hyuuga, and Aburame was a stupid move. And you suck at stealth to begin with." A girl's voice called out from the trees in amusement.

"Bite me Hikari-chan."

"That's later." She commented as the three Iwa genin popped out around the Konoha team, Naruto in front where Kiba had been focused while Hikari was across from Shino and Kurai stood a small distance from Hinata. "Hiya tree lovers!" Hikari chirped with a grin as Naruto stood ready to charge should he need to as Kurai held a hand out to the side. "If you three want to live, then hand over any and all scrolls you've collected so far."

"You really expect us to do that?" Kiba fired back as Akamaru whined one his head and Hinata was staring at Naruto in fear.

"K-Kiba-kun… His ch-chakra is immense!" The dog boy growled as Shino spoke up.

"My insects are also refusing to go near him, meaning he is already immune to my abilities. And that is not counting his teammates." The boy scoffed before Akamaru whined on his head again.

"_Hooded fox boy will kill us all! And empty hands boy smells of blood!"_

"Tch… you guys aren't even willing to try." Kiba muttered as Naruto grinned.

"Come on, I've been wanting to kill something for a while. Just give me an excuse." He taunted as he spread his arms and motioned towards his chest for Kiba to make the first move.

"What says you three won't kill us once you have our scrolls?" Kiba asked as Kurai answered.

"Nothing. However you will certainly die if you do not take the offer so what have you to lose?"

"K-Kiba-kun…" Hinata stuttered as she switched her Byakugan to Hikari and Kurai.

"I believe it would be best to simply hand them over Kiba. We still have five days to gather another set." Shino offered so Kiba growled but reached into his pack and tossed the scrolls to Naruto.

"Sweet a complete set!" The boy cheered as he caught them and sealed them into his jacket like their earlier Earth scroll. Hikari grinned at how they gave up while Kurai lowered his hand back to his side.

"You have them now leave us be!" Kiba demanded as Naruto scowled.

"Don't think you can order us around kid or I'll kill you off principle alone." He threatened as Akamaru whined and Kiba growled. The Iwa genin were about to leave when Shino stopped them.

"Wait! A question before you leave."

"Shino, what're you doin' man?" Kiba asked as he and Hinata stared at him in confusion and slight shock. First he wants to let them get their scrolls and leave but then he stops them to ask a question?

"What?" Hikari asked as the boy adjusted his glasses and recalled his insects.

"Sakura-san said something about you killing a man and dooming a country. What did she mean by that?" The Iwa Kunoichi smirked at the question as Naruto let out a bark of laughter.

"They had a mission to protect a bridge builder in Nami as he finished his bridge. The country had been oppressed by a greedy business man named Gato." Kurai explained as he saw no harm in telling them. "The bridge was completed and the country's people believed that with it, they could escaped Gato's rule. Once the Konoha team left we came in and killed the bridge builder before destroying the bridge, thus eliminating the country's only hope for salvation."

"I slit the old man's throat myself." Naruto commented as the Konoha team gaped at them. "And after the explosions from blowing the bridge up went off, they rushed back to see what happened and we mocked and taunted them about the whole thing to their faces. And the best part, they couldn't do jack shit about it." The blond laughed as the Konoha heirs looked horrified at how he seemed happy to have condemned an entire country to the whims of a mad man.

"What kind of monsters are you guys?" Kiba gasped out as Naruto and Hikari grinned.

"The kind that love their job. Later wimps!" The hooded boy responded as the Iwa team left the three. Hinata watched them go with her eyes before turning them off and shivering. Kiba growled as Shino sighed.

"I understand why Sakura-san was frightened of them now. It would be best to avoid them and advise our Konoha comrades to do the same should we come across any."

"I still think we should've at least tried." The boy muttered but Hinata surprisingly spoke up.

"Kiba-kun, their ch-chakra was much larger th-than ours. N-not only that b-but the one in the h-hood, h-his chakra had th-these strange red flares in i-it. I kept ge-getting a bad f-feeling from looking at th-them." Shino nodded in agreement.

"And as I pointed out, my insects refused to go near him, rendering him immune to my abilities. If just that one genin was such a dangerous threat to us alone then logically the entire team would be too great for us to face. According to my insects there was something off about the girls' chakra as well though they would still attack her had I commanded them to. The older boy seemed like the only viable chance we had to fight."

"And Akamaru said he smells like blood and he's right. That guy smelled like he bathed in the stuff." Kiba muttered as Hinata pointed something out.

"Didn't the h-hooded one t-tell the proctor to c-cut him if sh-she wanted someone b-blood-thirsty?" Hinata asked and Kiba blinked before remembering that.

"Oh yeah he did."

"Then it is even more prudent we avoid them as you are our main attacker and your techniques will certainly cut into flesh." Shino nodded so the Inuzuka grunted but nodded. "I fear that team is beyond our strength Kiba."

"Fine. Now let's get going. We've gotta work for more scrolls now."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"This genin is not holding his teams' scroll." Sai remarked as he and Sasuke had just killed an Ame ninja in white that tried to separate and impersonate Sakura to attack them. Sasuke nodded as he untied Sakura and walked over while she stood up and followed.

"We'll need a code of some sort to make sure we know each other from a spy." Sasuke suggested and Sakura and Sasuke nodded.

"How about this? What was Tazuna's grandson named?" Sakura suggested Sai nodded and Sasuke smirked.

"Alright, Inari it is." He agreed as it was simple yet only something they would know in these woods. None of them however noticed the bamboo shoot sticking out of the ground a few feet away, allowing the person underneath them to hear every word said. "Now let's get moving. We need a scroll and I'm going to kill those Iwa bastards if we come across them." He growled as Sai sighed but nodded while Sakura just nodded along nervously and followed.

'_So little Sasuke-kun has a problem with Naruto-kun and his team? I wonder what could've caused that little meeting.' _Orochimaru thought as he followed them underground and readied his plan to test and mark the Uchiha for himself. _'I'll just have to make sure young Naruto-kun doesn't kill the boy.'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So do you want to keep searching for any scrolls or stop for the night?" Naruto asked as he and his teammates were resting near a river that ran through the forest. Hikari kneeling down and getting a drink as Kurai was staring towards the tower roof in the distance with narrowed eyes.

"I'd rather take a break for the day." Hikari commented as the sun began to set. "We can set up a camp in that clearing we passed nearby and lay out some traps around the place to stay safe and then just relax and find another scroll tomorrow."

"Remember we are going to meet with the Oto spy on the third day." Kurai reminded as he contemplated the pros and cons to setting up camp now or later.

"Yeah about that, where are we supposed to meet this guy?" Naruto asked before repeating the message. "'I will find you in the trees on the third day. The great snake wants its answers.' Obviously he means Orochimaru and thinks we know if oji-sama is going to include Iwa in that invasion plan he has and wants to know if we're in or not. While I'd love to take a shot at the place, and I'm sure you would too, we don't know if oji-sama will or not. Plus, 'find us in the trees'? This whole damn place is trees! How the hell is he supposed to find us or us him?" Naruto remarked as Kurai shrugged. Hikari sighed as she stood from where she was crouched by the river.

"Why don't we spend tomorrow searching for him instead? Meet him on our terms incase he doesn't like how we don't have the info he wants? I mean, we don't know if he was faking his weakness before the first exams and Orochimaru has been known for his temper. This guy might have the same thing from his master. It'd be best to have every advantage we can get."

"That sounds reasonable." Kurai nodded to Hikari's words as he faced them. "For all we know Orochimaru could have decided to go back on his deal with Tsuchikage-sama. Not only that but he apparently had an interest in Naruto. This could very well be a trap to take him from Iwa and bring him before the Sannin in Oto."

"Aren't you over thinking things there Kurai?" Naruto asked before scoffing. "Like he'd be stupid enough to get oji-sama to declare war on his ass. Orochimaru may be tough but he said himself to the old man that he doesn't have the manpower to take on one of the five. He wouldn't do something that stupid."

"I was merely stating a possibility."

"More like impossibility." The blond shot back. "Anyways, I'm with Hikari-chan here. Let's just spend tomorrow looking for this little rat and then head to the tower afterwards. Waiting for three days isn't really appealing to me." Kurai nodded so Hikari grinned.

"Then let's go set up camp." She suggested before walking to Naruto and whispering. "And set a few silencing seals around your tent so we can let off a bit of steam tonight." The blond grinned as they headed back into the woods for the night.

**OMAKE - The Real Message**

Naruto grinned as he answered another question on the test. This test was way too damn easy for him. Especially with Kyuubi helping him out and plenty of other fools to cheat off of. _'Let's see here; decode the following message and write down the true words below. Okay, sounds easy enough.' _The blond thought as he looked over the code and the very basic clue they had been given to solve it. Naruto tapped the pencil on his chin as he worked the problem out and wrote the real message down before raising an eye-brow in confusion. "This can't be the real answer…" He muttered as he had Kyuubi double-check his work and even cheated the answer off a couple other genin just to get the same message. "No way…" He muttered. "I can't believe they put this as an actual answer to this damn test."

'_Hello all you guys and gals of the Nations great and small! The great, the gallant, the impossibly sexy Jiraiya-sama of the legendary Sannin of Konoha has commandeered your Chunin Exam tests to bring you a special announcement! The next book in my best selling Icha Icha series will be coming out in two months! The aptly titled Icha Icha Tactics will follow our hero Jadeya on his continuing journey to earn the fair Sulade's love while covering all his naughty misadventures with the many fair maidens of the land! So go reserve your copy at a local bookstore now as copies won't last long! P.S. This series is rated Adult Only'_

A few rows back from Naruto, Hikari had a blush on her face and a hand to her nose to prevent the blood threatening to spill as she giggled lightly after translating the code. She had a new book in her favorite series to grab later.


	16. Arc 3 Chapter 3

**Kid Buu 619:** Both questions are answered next chapter.

**roboguy45: **One of the Rookies will die but it won't be any of Team 7.

**Bibliophile1521: **Naruto will not receive a summon contract. Hikari will eventually get one though through her clan.

**apimpnamedkyuubi: **Naruto has very good control over the Kyuubi's power in this story. Not perfect but good enough that he can channel just a slight amount and then utilize Kyuubi's full Killing Intent through it without trouble. The amount of chakra he was actually pulling on though was only enough to affect his eyes and alert the sensors to what was being used.

**Peter Kim: **Naruto meets Kabuto this chapter, won't be seeing Orochimaru or Sasuke during the Exams and Danzo is currently going over contingencies about them since Sai didn't know who Naruto was. All Sai could tell Danzo was a very dangerous team from Iwa and what Kakashi told Sarutobi. And Iwa's answer to the Invasion will be made clear soon. But not this or next chapter for sure.

**Appo1119: **There will be another couple omakes here or there that reference Hikari's love of Icha Icha and involve Naruto or the man in some way. As for writing a book about the pair, Jiraiya hasn't even met them yet so he can't. And after he does meet them, his smut will be the last thing on his mind.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Three - **To Fear the Snake or the Fox

"It's time to wake up." Kurai called out as he got back from catching a few fish from the nearby river for breakfast. However neither of his teammates answered him. Neither did the tent move as if they were awake. The boy set the fish down before going over and tapping the side of the tent. "Wake up." When there was still no answer the boy pocked his head inside to see both his teammates wrapped in the same sleeping bag together, Hikari's back pressed into Naruto's chest. "Naruto, Hikari." He called loudly getting them to snap their eyes open for a moment before yawning and facing him. "Get up." He ordered before pulling his head back and starting a small fire to cook the fish. Hikari pulled herself out of the sleeping bag revealing that she was entirely nude before stretching her arms out above her head and reaching to the side for the scroll she put her clothes in. Naruto just stayed lying down and watched her with a grin.

"Enjoying the show?" The girl remarked while turning around with a grin. The boy nodded his head as she giggled and bent down and kissed him. "Well show's over now so get up." She told him while pulling back as Naruto groaned.

"I hate schedules." The boy muttered knowing they had to keep to their five day limit. While it was true that it was only the second day, they planned on looking for Kabuto today and then heading for the tower at the center of the forest. The boy reluctantly slipped out of the sleeping bag and reached for his clothes when Hikari reached around from behind him and gripped his member in her hand.

"I do too Naruto-kun but just think. This test lasts five days. If we finish early what can we do during that spare time?" She taunted as she stroked him a couple times and he shivered against her. The girl grinned before letting go and getting out of the tent. "Now come on lover, we've got work to do!"

"Oi! You get me all worked up and then don't even finish?!" He shouted at her while her laughter was heard in response. "Fucking sexy bitch. I swear I'm gonna get her back for this." Naruto muttered to himself as he did his best to calm himself back down and get dressed. It was going to be a long day.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Sasuke-kun, time to get up!" Sakura called as Sai set a fire for the three of them. The boy in question grumbled but crawled out of the sleeping bag he packed and came out from under the tree they had slept under. The boy wordlessly accepted the bottle of water Sakura handed him as he took a drink and gave it back.

"So what's the plan for today?" He asked as Sai cooked the rabbit he had caught.

"We must acquire a scroll. The first day is over now so that leaves only four days left. It's possible some teams have already completed the Exam and are awaiting the next test." Sai started as Sasuke and Sakura sat around the fire to wait for their breakfast. "As such, locating another team is our top priority. I think it would be best if we remained together though as there is both safety and strength in numbers. I do not believe we will have the luxury of either for much longer should we fail to finish this test soon." Sai finished as Sakura nodded.

"If we come across another team from Konoha it'll be a shame but we're going to kick their asses and get their scroll." Sasuke started while Sai nodded. "If it's a foreign team then there's no problem and we'll fight them without regrets. And if it's that Iwa team… I'm going to kill them." The boy muttered darkly while Sai merely kept his blank look up as he wasn't sure of their chances against them. Sakura shivered before putting her own thoughts out.

"If we managed to get another Heaven scroll then we can still hold onto it and maybe trade a team for an Earth scroll to avoid a fight. I mean, it's possible a team would get too many Earth scrolls just like we may get too many Heaven." The boys nodded in agreement with her as Sai started handing out the cooked meat. "The only problem so far is going to be finding a team. Then we can worry about if we can beat them or not." Sasuke scoffed at the notion that he could possibly lose while Sai nodded as she was right.

"Whatever. Let's just finish this thing and go." The Uchiha muttered before swallowing the last of his food and putting out the fire by kicking dir over it. Sai and Sakura stood up after and the three were about to take to the trees again when a whistling wind started to pick up. "You two hear that?" The wind quickly intensified as Sasuke used chakra to anchor himself to the ground while Sakura did the same and Sai pulled out his tanto and dug it into the ground before he did as well.

"This wind is unnatural! We're under attack!" The boy shouted over the howling gale that was blowing against them before it stopped just as quickly as it started. Before any of them had any time to wonder why it stopped a woman with long dark hair sped out of the bushes ahead of them and quickly punched Sakura away before leaping at Sai to do the same. The undercover Root agent pulled the tanto out of the ground and swung at the girl so she dodged under him by bending backwards at an impossible angle and kicking him away. Sasuke just jumped back and pulled a kunai as the girl straitened herself and looked at the Uchiha.

"Well Sasuke-kun now that we're alone, how about we play together?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So where do you think that Oto spy is?" Naruto commented as the team ran through the trees. They had only been looking for an hour and already Naruto was bored. They had come across three teams and killed the two that attacked them while mocking the third that fled. The had even taken the scrolls off the first two giving them a second set with an extra Earth scroll.

"Don't know. I'm starting think we should just skip the bastard and go to the tower now." Hikari grumbled as Kurai repressed the urge to sigh. The spy may have vital info to pass on to them after finding out Iwa's answer to the invasion plan, not that they knew it. He had already explained such to them as well but it seems that in their impatience they didn't care. However a scream got their attention.

"Hold on." Naruto stopped and cocked his head to the side as the screaming seemed to be getting closer to them. "What's going on here?" He muttered as Kurai and Hikari jumped to his side to be ready for a possible attack. They tensed as a figure came out of the bushes and ran straight at them before focusing on the bigger threat of the giant bear chasing them.

"HELP!" The figure screamed, being revealed to be a girl with red hair that was straightened on one side and rough and messy on the other. She also had on glasses as well as a light purple top and a headband identifying her as a Kusa Kunoichi. She stumbled in front of them before glancing to see the bear still chasing her and screaming before darting behind the Iwa team. "Please help! I'll do whatever you want!" Naruto scoffed but then raised a brow as Kurai called out his scythe and stepped forward.

"Hey Kurai, what're you doing man?" The blond called out as the dark haired boy ignored him and chopped off the arm of the bear as it clawed at him. Instantly the beast stumbled back roaring in pain as the scythe in the boy's hand glowed white.

"Engetsu (Crescent Moon)!" The boy called out as he slashed at the animal and sent out a white blade of chakra that cut it in half. The beast collapsed in a bloody heap as the girl peeked out from behind Naruto. Kurai grunted but then turned around and pointed the weapon at her. "Name, skills and situation." He demanded making her gape at how he just ordered her around.

"What?"

"I'd answer him. We could just kill you for bugging us you know." Naruto commented as he stepped away from the girl and she flinched before adjusting her glasses.

"Uzumaki Karin of Kusagakure. I'm a medic-in-training and a sensor type. My team was killed by a group from Konoha but I managed to escape before that bear started chasing me. I… I managed to hold onto my teams scroll if you guys want it…" She muttered as she pulled out a Heaven scroll from her pack that Naruto grabbed instantly.

"Sweet, third set complete." Hikari rolled her eyes as Kurai dismissed his scythe and stepped up. However then Naruto noticed something about her introduction and turned to her. "Whoa wait a sec… Uzumaki?" The girl nodded so the blond grinned and jabbed a thumb at himself. "No way, I'm an Uzumaki too!"

"But our clan has always been known for having red hair." She shot back with a questioning glance and looked to his teammates to see them nodding even as Hikari wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"True, but Naruto-kun here takes after his fathers' appearance apparently. His mother was the Uzumaki." She explained and pecked the boy on the cheek. "So now what? Since she's apparently family I doubt you'll want to kill her, so what? Do we just leave her be or drag her around? It's not like we need a medic really since you can regenerate and Kurai's pretty much immortal. And I don't think a sensor would… Wait a minute. Girl, how good is your sensing ability?" Hikari asked as an idea came to mind. Karin crossed her arms and huffed but answered anyways.

"First off it's Karin, not girl. And secondly I'd say pretty good for a genin. I can feel every chakra source in this half of the forest right now and with a bit of focus I could extend that range to a couple kilometers out of it." Hikari waved her grumbling aside dismissively as she turned to her teammates.

"Whatever girl." She muttered, secretly enjoying her growl of irritation. "Do you guys think she could find that annoying bastard we're looking for? I mean, it's gotta be better than just walking around and hoping we come across him." The girl suggested getting Kurai to nod and Naruto to grin.

"Sounds like a plan to me." The blond chirped as Kurai glanced at Karin before shrugging his shoulders.

"I see no fault in doing so. She's not strong enough to fight us and if she truly is related to you Naruto then she has no reason to." He stated before looking to her. "If you locate someone for us then we will promise you protection in these woods as long as you are with us."

"Th-thank you." Karin stuttered out, surprised but glad they were willing to help her. "Um… do you know anything about the person I should know?" She asked as she figured that helping them find someone was a good trade off for both saving her and volunteering to keep her safe. "Affinity, chakra level, specific traits; anything like that helps." Kurai shook his head while Hikari and Naruto shrugged.

"We just know he's an Oto spy playing at being a Konoha ninja. We think he's probably hiding his real skill so I'd say someone that seems stronger than your average genin would be your best bet." The blond admitted getting the to grumble slightly as that was not a lot of information to go off of.

"Why would you need to see a spy anyways?" She asked as she had a pretty good idea of who they were looking for since she was also a spy for Oto. Karin made a ram sign with her hands as she closed her eyes and focused.

"Oh, Oto has a couple plans and wanted to get Iwa in on them. The guy slipped Kurai a message to meet in the forest for a talk so we're just trying to find him since a meeting place was never defined beyond 'forest' and all." Naruto commented as Karin nodded.

"Well not counting you three, who are far higher than the average genin, you especially, there are around five sources not in the tower that are higher than normal. Three appear to be traveling together towards I'd say three kilometers to the east and two are fighting along with another genin that's only slightly above average." She explained before deactivating her technique and frowning. _'That was Orochimaru-sama's chakra. What's he doing in the forest playing with genin?' _The girl shook her head to clear her thoughts as she kept talking. "One of the big signatures fighting is higher than even the average jonin while the tower has one signature almost on par with yours and multiple chunin and jonin level people as well." The Iwa team nodded their understanding as Naruto grinned and turned to Kurai.

"Then I guess we're gonna head east. But I just wanna know something first. Why did you just jump in Kurai?" The boy taunted slightly as Kurai shook his head.

"A bear of that size would no doubt attract other predators and teams eventually. By killing it here, its corpse will instead attract scavengers to this point and let us travel unhindered. Had the girl proven to be without use, I would have simply added her to the dead, relation to you or otherwise." Naruto and Hikari scoffed as Karin shuddered and took an unconscious step away from him.

"And here I thought you did it because you thought she was cute or something. Would it kill ya to show some damn emotion?" He remarked as Naruto jerked his head toward Karin. "Yo Karin, take the lead and bring us to those three that weren't fighting. If it's not them then we'll just kill 'em and head for the fighting ones next. We'll keep ya alive so don't worry about getting hurt or anything. Besides, I want to talk to you later since we're apparently cousins and stuff." The girl nodded and focused her chakra for a moment to get a lock on the signature she was leading them to before taking to the trees with the Iwa genin following right after.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Come now, surely you can do better!" The Kunoichi taunted as she slammed her fist into an ink lion and made it dispel while dodging a fireball. Sasuke growled and leapt at the woman with a kunai in each hand, intent on impaling her just to make her shut up as her taunts were getting on his nerves. The woman pulled out a single kunai of her own with a smirk and began to match his attacks with ease while still managing to land a few light punches and kicks to the boy at the same time. Sai leapt in from behind with his tanto but the woman ducked under his slash and grabbed his wrist before spinning around and throwing him into Sasuke, making both collapse to the ground. "So the mighty Uchiha needs help to take on a single opponent? Oh how far your clan has fallen!"

"Shut… shut up!" The genin growled as he and Sai stood up, both panting heavily as the fight had been going on without a change for a while now. Nothing they did was working. Every combination and attack was countered or dodged with unnatural ease. Sakura was also still out but both of them counted it as a blessing as she'd be no use against an opponent of this level and all she would've done is scream for Sasuke. Sai had even begun using his real skill, surprising Sasuke momentarily before he put it out of mind to focus on the true threat of the Kusa Kunoichi, but even that was not enough. "We'll kill you!" He shouted as the Kunoichi just waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh I doubt that. I mean, you have yet to land a hit on me. Perhaps if I want a real Uchiha to fight I should go find that brother of yours that murdered your clan. Itachi was it?" Sasuke growled at the mention while the girl grinned and decided to add more fuel to his rage. "Then again when I was following you earlier I heard a few hated mentions of that Iwa team. Perhaps they can provide the challenge even the mighty Uchiha has failed to give me?" She taunted so Sasuke growled and leapt at her with a roar as he began swinging wildly, all thought or reason lost in his rage.

'_This is not good!' _Sai thought as he took a soldier pill to restore his chakra. _'This Kunoichi is extremely above our level! Retreating would be our best option but without a distraction she would no doubt catch us again. Not only that but with how worked up she has gotten Sasuke there is no chance of him accepting that option despite the difference in skill.' _Sai thought as he started drawing more pictures for his ninjutsu. The only good point the could see was that the girl seemed to be more focused on taunting and beating Sasuke than killing them all but for what reason Sai didn't know.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!" Sasuke called out as he launched a fireball at the Kunoichi, us for her to once more dodge without trying. Sasuke growled as his Sharingan spun in anger within his eyes. "Why won't you die?!" The girl chuckled as he ran at her again just to get kicked back.

"Because you are too weak to kill me little Sasuke-kun. Isn't it obvious by now?" The Kunoichi taunted before tossing a few shuriken into the ink birds Sai released without even looking to aim. "Your brother left you alive because you were so weak that killing you would be an insult to his skill." Sasuke growled as she once more brought up his family's death but she continued. "I'm willing to bet the reason you hate that Iwa group is because they pointed out your weakness even further. Am I right?" She asked getting Sasuke to roar out in anger as he charged her. The woman scoffed and dodged his punches before grabbing his wrists and throwing the boy into the air just for her to vanish and kick him back down from behind. "So weak!"

Sai charged in with his tanto again and the Kunoichi ducked under the blade before using her hand to strike a pressure point in the pale boys wrist to make him drop it. With her other hand she caught the blade and used the flat end to smack the boy unconscious before tossing the tanto to the side. Sai was truly becoming and annoyance to her and while she wanted to kill him she realized Sai needed his teammates to continue on with the exams. The Uchiha grit his teeth as he slowly got back to his knees.

"So weak. Is this how strong you truly are?" She asked and the boy growled but said nothing. "Pity. Konoha must be holding you back."

"What?" Sasuke growled as he snapped his eyes up to meet hers as she grinned.

"Well everyone's heard the tales of how mighty the Uchiha clan is. How even their genin were leagues above the rest and yet here I am and you've yet to land a blow. Why is that?" She asked as Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You must train extensively, I'm sure, and yet I must admit that I've had tougher fights from rookie teams with only a week of experience." This was a lie of course as Sai and Sasuke actually did put up a good fight that she knew would take out any real genin. However she wasn't a genin. "So why are you so weak despite your training? There's only two possible reasons. One is that you are simply weak and not worth the blood flowing through your veins." Sasuke growled at the jab so she smirked. "Or two, the village must be holding you back."

"I am not weak!" Sasuke roared so she simply tilted her head to the side.

"Then that leaves one option. But why would the village hold you back? My guess is that they want a pawn that they can control. The Uchiha clan before was proud and mighty. But if they hold you back then when you remake the clan they can ensure it's to their liking, weak and submissive." She taunted. "But I can change that." Sasuke shakily stood on his feet but didn't make any move to attack her, despite his rage towards the Kunoichi.

"How?"

"I will give you something. Pass its test and then I'll send some people to recruit you to my side. I will train you up stronger than this village could ever possibly dream of." She offered before making some hand-signs. Sasuke tensed but it was too late as her neck stretched and she bit him on the neck. The boy screamed in pain as a mark formed over his shoulder, looking like three tomoe circling each other. The girl then let go and he dropped to his knees clutching the new wound. "Remember Sasuke, pass this test and you will be offered power by Orochimaru of the Sannin." Those were the last words the boy heard before falling unconscious.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"They're right up ahead." Karin announced so the Iwa team nodded and took the lead from her. She didn't complain as she was getting free protection from the forest that she was severely under-equipped to handle. The group of four dropped out of the trees and Naruto grinned as they landed behind Kabuto and his two teammates, the three looking surprised to see them.

"What're you doing here? I said to meet on the third day." Kabuto remarked while they sized up the boy's teammates. Apparently they all had the same fashion sense as they all wore similar purple clothes, though Kabuto's teammates also had on cloths to hide their noses and mouths from view. One had glasses on while the other had sunglasses instead. Kabuto then noticed Karin behind them and raised an eyebrow. "And why is Karin with you?"

"Oh? You know her?" Naruto asked while glancing back at the girl.

"Not personally. I just know she's another of Orochimaru-sama's spies. She works out of Kusa though obviously." The blond shrugged as Hikari stepped up.

"Anyways, we just got tired of waiting and decided to search for you. She ran into us while running from some bear and offered to help us if we'd deal with it. So things went on and here we are. Now what did you want to meet for?" She asked, getting straight to the point as Kabuto sighed.

"I guess it doesn't matter when we talk." He muttered before adjusting his glasses. "The plan for the invasion of Konoha is still going strong. Suna has entered a few teams, one of which contains their jinchuriki, and their Kage is readying the village for war in secret. Meanwhile Orochimaru-sama is prepping Oto for its part in the attack. We wanted to know if Iwa has made a decision regarding the plan or not." Naruto shrugged.

"Well first off, according to Karin here my jinchuriki brother has already completed the test and is in the tower right now." Kabuto nodded as he somewhat expected Gaara to finish quickly. "As for Tsuchikage-oji-sama's answer, well we don't have it."

"What?"

"Yeah, we just got orders to make it to the finals. He hasn't made up his mind yet so we weren't told anything beyond that." The blond admitted as Kabuto's teammates growled.

"So this whole meeting was a waste then!"

"Looks that way specs." The blond shot out while shrugging his shoulders. "If that's all then, we're gonna head to the tower. This forest sucks and Hikari-chan promised some fun once we got there." Said girl blushed but didn't deny his words while Kabuto sighed.

"Fine. We'll see you there."

"No we won't." One of his teammates growled as he flexed his arms. "This whole thing was a waste of time. So I say we just take their scroll and move on without them." His other partner nodded in agreement as they charged forward, Kabuto shouting for them to stop. Hikari scoffed as Kurai got ready to call out his scythe before Naruto vanished.

"Bad idea." He muttered from behind them, crouched down with his arms to the side, blades fully extended from his gauntlets. He two spun around as he retracted the blades without a word. The moment they were fully sheathed within the containment seals on his gauntlets the two spies felt pain as their chests seemed to explode in a shower of blood from the multiple slash and stab wounds they had suffered from Naruto's high speed rush. They collapsed to the ground, dead before their knees even touched the earth. The blond stood and looked down at them impassively while Kabuto took a step back. He had been able to follow those moves as his true skill was on par with a high jonin, but for Naruto to have killed them that fast meant even he wasn't sure who would win in a fight. "Looks like you fail."

"Are you going to kill me to?" Kabuto asked as he readied himself and the blond shrugged.

"Don't know. You going to attack me for no reason?" The white haired boy shook his head so Naruto turned away and started walking back to his teammates. "Then no. Later." He called out as his team and Karin followed him into the trees. Kabuto sighed as they left before he walked over to one of his teammates and pulled out the scroll he was holding.

"Honestly, such a waste. You two deserved that really." He muttered as he pocketed the item and began to walk away. "I'm just lucky Orochimaru-sama doesn't need me to make it to the finals for my mission." He mused before thinking over his plans. "Orochimaru-sama should be finished marking Sasuke-kun by now so I'll just watch him from the shadows for a little before playing the scared little genin wanting help since the vicious Iwa team killed my partners while I escaped. He hates them so much that he'll buy it in a second and when I offer a scroll in exchange for 'protection' they'll have no reason to refuse me."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Sakura moaned as she woke up. The last thing she remembered was a big wind and then getting hit by something. The girl looked around before seeing she was alone. She quickly checked herself to see that she was fine and had everything with her, she just had a large bruise on her chest from the hit that knocked her out. With a relieved sigh she got up and started looking for her teammates. "Sasuke-kun? Sai?" She called out as she walked around. Sakura shivered at the thought of being alone in the forest before entering the clearing they were in when the whole mess started and finding Sai unconscious while Sasuke was as well, only he was clutching his neck and groaning in pain as well. "Sasuke-kun! Sai!" She shouted as she rushed forward, first to Sasuke as one would expect. The girl knelt down and moved his hand away to see a strange mark over his neck and checked his forehead to see that he was running a fever. With a worried glance she got up and checked to see that Sai was fine and just unconscious. "Now what do I do?" The girl muttered as she looked around, suddenly realizing how alone she was in the forest.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Are you sure it's allowed?" Karin asked and Naruto shrugged but walked into the tower anyways, Kurai doing the same. Hikari rolled her eyes but grabbed Karin's arm and started dragging the girl with them.

"Like we care if it's allowed. The worst that'll happen is they shove you back into the forest but we gave you the extra scrolls so that you could offer them to others should any come after you then anyways. Just come on girl." Karin growled again at how Hikari still wouldn't call her by name while Naruto and Kurai were staring up at a poem on the wall.

"Well, it's worded in a way fancier style than it is in Iwa but whatever." Naruto commented before opening the Heaven scroll as Kurai opened the Earth. Both instantly recognized the summoning seals on the scrolls and dropped them while moving back to fight if needed. When the smoke cleared a white haired chunin was standing in front of them.

"Congratulations on passing the second test. My name's Mizuki." He introduced before glancing at Karin. "Why is she here?"

"Her team is dead dude. She offered us a scroll in return for protection so we brought her along." Naruto explained while relaxing since it appeared they didn't have to fight. Mizuki shrugged with a careless nod.

"Whatever. It's not against the rules so I guess she's fine. We'll notify her sensei to come pick her up later while she waits here." The man remarked so he turned around to look up at the poem. "The last thing to do before I take you off to your rooms to wait is make sure you guys understand this poem."

"We do." Hikari cut in so he looked back with a raised brow.

"Really? Then explain it."

"It talks about Earth and Heaven and needing both. Earth is obviously physical skill while Heaven talks about smarts and strategy. A good Shinobi needs both in order to advance in our careers." Mizuki nodded as Hikari shrugged. "To be honest you guys sound like you're trying to confuse people with it. Iwa's pretty blunt when it comes to this."

"How does Iwa put it then?"

"All the strength in the world is worthless if you're too stupid to use it and you can be as smart as you want but if you can't back it up with your own strength then what good are you?" Naruto called out with a smirk as Mizuki snorted in amusement.

"Heh, same thing I guess. Alright, follow me. Since you finished early you have the rest of the time to relax and recover as needed. There's a cafeteria for you to eat in as well as a small training room for you to use so long as you're okay with it being open to the public. There's also a pool if you want to go swimming while you wait." Naruto and Hikari grinned while Kurai merely nodded. "The only rules are you can't leave the tower now and no fighting other teams. Other than that, feel free to do whatever." He remarked before stopping in front of a door. "This'll be your room. Each one has three beds and a bath for you to use." He explained before looking to Karin. "I want you to stay with them while I go have someone get your sensei. It should only take a couple hours but then you'll be out of here. You guys don't mind do you?" He asked as he looked back to the Iwa genin. They all shrugged so he nodded. "Okay then. Later." He then vanished in a Shunshin as Kurai opened the door and they walked inside. Naruto and Hikari both sat down on one bed while Kurai took one for himself and Karin sat down on the third.

"Alright so now we're in the finals." The blond commented as he laid back to relax and Hikari smiled as she lied next to him.

"Unless there's preliminaries." Karin pointed out so the three turned to her. "If too many genin pass the second test then they hold a preliminary round to shrink the number down first. The finals are always one on one combat exams in front of hundreds of people. They kind of need to keep the number of fights down to keep people entertained so if too many genin pass then you'll have another round before the finals." She explained so they nodded.

"Okay then." Hikari commented as she closed her eyes. "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep. Wake me later." She didn't even wait for answer as she drifted off and Naruto looked down at her.

"And you use my arm for a pillow huh? What if I wanted to get up?" He asked but got no answer. Naruto sighed and looked over to see Kurai simply shrugged and got up.

"I'm going to learn the buildings' layout and then train. I will return later." Naruto shrugged as he left and then turned to Karin.

"So cousin," He started as she looked at him. "Let's have a little family catch up." Karin let out a small smile before they began to talk, trading stories of growing up in their respective villages and skills.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Sakura… who did that to you?" Sasuke asked as he stood up, his skin covered in black flame-like markings. The girl looked beat up and even had her hair chopped short as Sai was panting and on one knee. Nearby was a trio of Oto genin, two staring in shock at Sasuke while the third cockily took a step forward.

"I did it. What're you gonna do about it?" He shouted before throwing his hands forward and unleashing a powerful gale at the Konoha ninja. There was a massive explosion as he began laughing. "How weak was that? One move and I take out all three!"

"Really? I thought you missed." Sasuke commented from behind him while Sai and Sakura were sitting off to the side from where Sasuke had dropped them when he rescued them from the attack. The Oto boy spun around but Sasuke punched him in the gut and flipped over him to his back while grabbing his wrists and pulling back. "You seem proud of these arms of yours. Why don't I fix that problem?" He grinned darkly as he put a foot on the genin's back and yanked hard, dislocating both his arms simultaneously with a loud crack. The boy screamed and passed out from the pain while Sasuke dropped him and turned to the other two. "Next."

"Zaku!" The girl shouted while her other teammate held up his hand.

"Wait Kin!"

"But Dosu!" He shook his head and reached into his pouch to pull out their Earth scroll.

"Our apologies for attacking your team Uchiha-san. Please take our scroll and let us go free. Some information has just come to light that we need to go over before we decide on our next move." Dosu offered as Sasuke looked at the scroll before nodding.

"Fine. Get lost before I change my mind." Dosu tossed him the scroll before stepping forward and grabbing Zaku and leaving, Kin looking at Sasuke in some fear before following her teammates. As soon as they left Sasuke looked down at his hands and grinned.

'_This power! This is what she was talking about! With this… with this nobody will stand in my way!' _He thought as the marks receded. He flinched and dropped to his knees as he clutched his neck in pain from the mark deactivating as he panted. _'Apparently there's a couple drawbacks to it though.'_

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out as she walked up to him and knelt by him. "Are you alright?" The boy grunted so she let out a small smile. "Thank goodness."

"Sasuke, where did you get that mark?" Sai asked and the boy closed his eyes.

"That Kunoichi that attacked us. Why? You know what it is?" Sai nodded and began to explain.

"It's called the Curse Mark. It's one of the dark kinjutsu's developed by Orochimaru of the Sannin. The mark grants an immense power to the user but in return erodes their sanity and will until they are little more than puppets for the man's use." Sai explained and Sasuke grunted. "We need to have that mark sealed up or removed as quickly as possible before you start to succumb to the effects." Sasuke's eye's flashed with the Sharingan as he stood and gripped Sai by his throat, surprising the boy.

"No way! This mark is giving me the power I need to achieve my goals. We are not getting rid of it!" He growled before tossing him to the ground. "If either of you say anything about this mark then I'll use it on you instead." He threatened before picking up the Earth scroll. "Now let's go. We've got both scrolls now so let's go to the tower." Sakura helped Sai up before following Sasuke, worrying about his recent attitude change for the worse while Sai made a mental note to inform Danzo about the new development.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kurai took a drink of water as he took a moment to rest from his training. He wasn't doing anything that would give away any of his skills, just massive sets of regular drills like push ups and sit ups. Nothing major but in large enough quantities that he still got a workout from them. He had just finished one set and was about to start another when he noticed someone coming up and paused.

"Excellent! I have located the training room! Now I may begin to fan my flames of youth!" Lee shouted. Kurai noticed it was the boy in green spandex that had been pushed around at the beginning of the first exams and shook his head. These exams seemed easier than he thought. Lee seemed to have noticed him though and walked over. "Hello my fellow Iwa genin! I see that you are here as well to train." Kurai glanced at the boy and nodded silently while Lee held out a thumbs up and smiled. "My name is Rock Lee and I humbly request a spar." Kurai set his water down as he turned back to Lee.

"I am Kurai and I decline." Lee's face switched to one of shock as he slumped down. The thought of his request getting turned down never even crossed his mind.

"Wha… but why?" The slightly older teen merely walked past him to keep training.

"We were told one of the rules is that we are not allowed to fight other teams. As we are from enemy villages, if we were to spar I would fight to kill. My Kage is depending on me to make it to the finals. I cannot afford to be disqualified over a single genin at this stage." The stoic teen explained before grabbing a couple of the weights that were set out for genin usage. He quickly tossed them up before flipping into a handstand and catching the weights on his feet before sticking them there with chakra. The boy didn't say another word as he began to push himself up and down. Lee shook his head before grinning at the Iwa teen.

"Ah yes, I had forgotten that in my haste to have a good spar. Thank you for reminding me of the rules Kurai-san!" Lee cheered, completely ignoring how Kurai said he would've killed him. "So instead I shall go and do my own training and ignite my flames of youth to new unseen levels! Good day to you!" Lee shouted before rushing off to another portion of the room and going through his own regimen. Kurai glanced at him from the corner of his eye before putting the green clad teen out of his mind and training. The Tsuchikage was expecting him and his teammates in the finals and he was going to complete that order. Plus he had a very good idea of what Naruto and Hikari were going to do once the girl woke up and Karin was gone and he had no desire to go anywhere near their assigned room anytime soon. Not only would they shout at him for interrupting they would likely tease and taunt him about his lack of a female companion. While the stoic teen cared little for their words so long as they could continue to work together well, that didn't mean he had to put up with it when he had a viable reason for staying away.

Besides that, the green clad genin was going through his taijutsu katas as Kurai did his hand-stand push ups. The teen kept an eye on the currently training Konoha genin as he began to decipher what he could from watching the boy train. In case they met in the finals or possible preliminaries, such observations would prove useful.


	17. Arc 3 Chapter 4

**Peter Kim: **Jiraiya is first slated to appear in Chapter 20 which is Arc 3 Chap 7. By then though stuff will have happened between Naruto and Konoha that will alter how things would be expected to happen.

**roboguy45: **No Karin will not be going for Kurai or leaving for Iwa because of what happened. As a matter of fact, Karin's role is done for now. I wanted to give her some screen-time and have her meet Naruto to learn about some extended family but now that I have she won't be seen again until Arc 5 which is a few months after the Exams take place. She also won't be going crazy over Sasuke either since he didn't save her to cause the initial attraction.

**jivablab: **First off, we don't know when Karin joined Orochimaru. She could've been spying on Kusa like Kabuto was spying on Konoha for all we know. The only concrete thing about her joining Orochimaru was that she didn't leave Kusa and start working in his bases on the mans' experiments until after Sasuke ditched his home. But she still could've been doing uncover work for him for a long time before that and we wouldn't know. Also, when Lee referred to Kurai as a fellow Iwa genin, he was referring to the fact they were both genin and simply said Iwa because that's where Kurai is from. He would've called out to Gaara or Kankuro as 'fellow Suna genin' for the same reason.

**Apedreitor: **They won't read Icha Icha in public for a couple reasons. One is that Naruto doesn't know she reads it. The books are a sort of secret pleasure for Hikari. The second is because their flirting is enough to set the woman off so why would they start reading the books for the express purpose of making her mad? As I've already stated above, Jiriaya's first appearance and his reaction to Naruto will be seen in chapter 20. And you're the first person to actually ask about Deidara and Akatsuki so I'm going to admit it right now, there will be one more 'main' OC in the story to take the man's place in the criminal group. But Akatsuki doesn't play a role until Arc 6 so that's still a far ways off.

**First Australian WWE Champion: **Yeah, last chapter didn't have much in plot. Mostly just showing a few small things and getting everyone to the tower. The only actual important parts of last chapter were Karin meeting Naruto and Kabuto's teammates being killed. None of the rest held much merit besides Orochimaru mocking and then marking Sasuke but that could've been summarized in a paragraph to the same effect. I mostly just lengthened it to give me more room for this chapter really.

**Authors Note: **Here are the long awaited preliminaries. Because a lot of these fights are mostly one-sided, I've just made one super long chapter with all of the preliminary matches together! So enjoy every fight here in the preliminaries as well as the first glimpse at Naruto that Konoha is given!

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Four - **Prelude to Pain and Fear

"Thanks for your help." Kabuto stated as Sasuke, Sakura and Sai walked into the tower with him right behind them. The Oto spy had met up with the Uchiha's team and offered them their scroll in exchange for safety through the forest. Or at least that was the story he was using. In reality he was just earning the team's trust so that he could take notes on their abilities. He had quickly noticed the curse seal on Sasuke and had to hide his grin at how Orochimaru's plans were going perfectly so far. He also told them how his teammates had been killed by Naruto just to see their reactions. Sai had scowled and remarked how it would be prudent to avoid them and complete the test immediately, as expected of the Root agent Kabuto knew him to be. Sakura had gasped and offered him condolences before asking Sasuke to reconsider his little revenge against them as she didn't want him to be hurt. Sasuke however had growled and said that he would get vengeance for them then as he already had a grudge to pick with that team. While he didn't care about Kabuto's teammates in the slightest, any reason to hate the Iwa team more was one he was willingly taking.

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke muttered as they entered a chamber with a poem on it. Sakura figured out that they had to open the scrolls so they did and Iruka came out. The chunin explained to them the meaning of the poem before sending Kabuto off to an area to wait as they contacted his sensei while the chunin himself led the three members of Team Seven to another room. Inside was a large statue of two hands in the ram seal while the Hokage and many jonin were waiting, likely the sensei's to the various genin lined up in rows by team. At the front was Anko who was staring at her watch before nodding as it struck noon, just as Team Seven took their places.

"Well that's it. Congratulations to all of you here since you passed the second test!" She called out. Sakura let out a sigh of relief that they made it in time while Sasuke smirked. Off to the side Naruto chuckled though Hikari threw him a small glare. The boy had gotten back at her for teasing him in the forest by tying her up and bringing her close to release before quitting and going to sleep. And then he did it again after waking up before finally untying her and heading to breakfast. She had tried to beat him up for it but the boy had dodged every attempt since he was faster than her. Gaara stood stoically waiting while Temari and Kankuro exchanged nervous glances. Waiting had never been a good point of Gaara's. The other teams to make it were the Oto team, Kiba's team, Lee's team, and Ino's team. "Hokage-sama has a few words for all of you now!" Anko called out as she stepped aside and the man stepped forward.

"Thank you Anko." He commented before turning his attention on the genin. "Once more, congratulations to all of you for passing. Now I shall explain the true reason behind these exams. Are they for deciding who among you is to be a chunin? Yes of course they are. Yet we also preach they are to extend and build friendship and camaraderie among the Nations. Again it is true, but they aren't the only reasons we hold them. The true reasoning behind these is that they are a replacement for war between the countries." He declared getting a few to gasp or mumble in confusion.

"Then why do you talk about friendship?" Tenten shouted out. Sarutobi took a small drag on his pipe before answering.

"Do not misunderstand me. To a Shinobi, risking one's life on the battlefield and testing themselves against one another is friendship." He commented.

"Then if I tossed a kunai at you right now would that mean I'm saying hello?" Naruto called out as Hikari started chuckling behind him. Even Kurotsuchi cracked a grin at his joke from where she was standing with the other jonin sensei. The Konoha jonin though scowled at the remark as a couple of the genin looked disturbed he would joke about attacking their leader.

"In a way yes. However I would advise against it genin." Sarutobi answered. He knew they were the team Kakashi had run into as the man had come to him during the five days of the second test and alerted him about it as he had learned of it from talking to Kurotsuchi. The old Hokage had instantly pulled up the files on the genin and while two of them checked out perfectly fine it was his that nearly gave him a heart-attack. It was under a name that shouldn't be possible from Iwa. The old Kage instantly knew what the warning had meant in regards to the 'prodigal son' and was already trying to plan a way to deny it. He was also hoping that it wasn't true as that would be the easiest way to handle the situation. "The exams are also to show off the strength of the village to the various daimyos and lords. The strength of the village is the strength of its Shinobi and a Shinobi's true strength can only be revealed in life and death combat. By showcasing your strength, we are essentially telling the world our village is this powerful and drawing in more clients to keep the village thriving. By having them compete with other villages not only do each get to test their genin together but we get to see but a small glimpse of how we stack up to each other without an all out war."

"Just hurry up to the battles already." Gaara called out as the talking was beginning to get on his nerves. Hiruzen sighed but nodded and was about to begin when a jonin dropped down and kneeled in front of him.

"Please allow me Hokage-sama *cough cough*" The old man nodded so the jonin stood and turned around to face the genin. "I am Gekko Hayate and I *cough* will be your proctor for the next exam. Before we can get to it though, we will need to have a preliminaries."

"What for?" Kiba shouted out so Hayate coughed again before explaining.

"Because there are too many of you. The final test is one on one combat in front of the various lords and daimyos Hokage-sama *cough* mentioned. As such we can only show a few matches and keep things short. The lords will only have one day and we can't waste all of it by having too many matches. So by Chunin Exam rules we will be having a preliminary round right now to cut down on the number of participants." He explained before pulling out a clipboard. "The preliminaries will be like the *cough cough* finals in that they are one on one combat. The winner is decided when one of you gives up, dies or is knocked out. If I deem a match over then I may also step in and end it. As they are one on one, teams are no longer important. Each of you is on your own now. If you wish to withdraw *cough* you may do so now." He offered but nobody took it. "Alright then. *cough* Since there are twenty one genin one of you will receive a bye to the finals and there will be ten matches following them." He explained as a screen opened up above the statue that started cycling through names.

**Sabaku no Gaara**

"Alright, Sabaku no Gaara of Suna will receive the bye to the finals." Hayate stated before Gaara interrupted him

"I don't want it. I wish to fight." He stated while Hayate shook his head.

"The machine is randomized. Since you were chosen for the bye you must either accept it or drop out of the Exams altogether." The red head stared at the jonin stoically before growling lowly but nodding his acceptance.

"Don't worry brother, we'll put on a show for you." Naruto chirped from next to him. Gaara merely glanced at him but said nothing as the screen started going through names again.

**Kurai vs. Sai**

"Lucky you. You get to go first and you get to face one of the wimps under Hatake." Naruto muttered as Kurai looked to Sai to see the boy holding a fake smile in his direction.

"All the genin are to go to the upper area to wait and watch with their sensei's." Hayate ordered as they all filed away for the stairs when they were all up above them and looking down Hayate took a couple steps back.

"It's a pleasure to face you." Sai offered but Kurai tilted his head to the side.

"Why do you give that fake smile?" He asked and Sai answered immediately.

"I read in a book a smile is helpful in earning trust." Kurai was silent before shaking his head.

"Remove it. It is insulting to people like us." Sai did but was now staring at him with narrowed eyes as Kurai continued. "From the moment I laid eyes on you I could tell you were like me. Both of us have discarded emotions to function as better Shinobi, as better tools for our villages. People like us shall never blend in and attempts to do so will come off hollow and recognizable as false, which prevents them from working as you believe. So do not use that smile as it is insulting to the Shinobi you are attempting to be." The teen lectured before turning slightly to his side and bending his knees, his right hand held behind him and open.

"I see. Then good luck to you." Sai remarked as he go into his own stance to start. Hayate looked at both teens for a moment before raising his hand.

"*cough* Kurai of Iwa versus Sai of Konoha. Hajime!" He called out. Sai instantly ducked down and whipped out a scroll for his jutsu while Kurai's eyes flashed purple for a moment.

"Senko no Higure (Flash of Twilight)." None of the genin could follow the move, only the jonin could. One second Kurai was in front of Sai. The next he was behind him spinning his scythe in his right as he crouched down with his back to the pale boy and his let hand forming a half ram sign in front of his face. The teen opened his closed eyes and stopped spinning his scythe before it dispelled into black smoke. "I had hoped that you may provide a challenge as you were like me. That was most… _disappointing_." He commented before he began to walk towards the stairs. The other genin were wondering why he was leaving before Sakura screamed as Sai's hands fell off and he collapsed onto his back with a massive slash through his chest. Medics rushed out to save his life as Hayate called out that Kurai was the winner.

"Three precise cuts in less than a second…" Kakashi muttered as Gai stood next to him and shook his head.

"It seems Iwa was not joking around with this Exam. They sent their absolute best. I only hope young Sai can be healed to continue his work as a Shinobi. It would hurt to see someone's flames of youth to be put out so young." The man commented while Kakashi nodded. Ignoring the 'flames of youth' part it would be a shame to lose such a promising ninja, especially since Sai was really at chunin level already, which just spoke even more about the Iwa genin's skill level.

"Good job Kurai." Kurotsuchi praised as he walked up to stand next to his teammates, right next to the Suna team. Temari and Kankuro spared him slightly worried glances as Naruto grinned and slapped him on the back.

"Yeah man, nice work. Kind of short though."

"Your entertainment is not my priority Naruto. Reaching the Finals is."

"Spoilsport." Hikari commented as the board began to cycle through for the next names.

**Kinuta Dosu vs. Inuzuka Kiba**

The Konoha genin spared a glance at the Iwa team with a shiver before jumping down to the floor for his match. Dosu patiently walked down to the floor himself, in no rush to fight. As he reached the floor he nodded to Hayate as Kiba set Akamaru down and nodded himself. "Kinuta Dosu of Oto versus Inuzuka Kiba of Konoha. Hajime!" Kiba instantly charged forward and slashed at Dosu's head. The bandaged genin ducked before punching Kiba in the gut with his right arm. The boy stumbled back rubbing his gut before his eyes widened and he dropped to his knees holding his ears.

"An Inuzuka correct?" Dosu asked as Kiba's ears were bleeding, Akamaru whining on the ground back where the boy had started from. "That means you're skills revolve around enhancing your senses to be more like the dogs you fight with. Specifically your enhanced hearing in this case. I can manipulate sound waves via my Melody Arm." He explained as he tapped the gauntlet on his right arm. "When I punched you I built up chakra and sound within this before releasing it and sending it straight into your ears. With your enhanced senses, you likely can't even hear me anymore." He taunted as Kiba glared up at the boy. The Inuzuka actually couldn't hear, just as he thought, but the boy obviously knew he was the cause of it.

"Fucking bastard…" He growled as Dosu chuckled.

"Funny." He chirped before bringing his gauntlet down on Kiba's head and knocking the boy out.

"Winner, Kinuta Dosu!" Hayate called out as the genin headed back up to the stands. Again the medics came out and grabbed the losing Konoha genin, one gently picking up his dog, before leaving for the medical bay. The genin looked up to the screen as the names were cycled through again.

**Hyuuga Neji versus Hyuuga Hinata**

"It must be fate." The older boy muttered with a smirk before he began walking down to the floor. Hinata however glanced at his happy and slightly bloodthirsty smirk before shaking her head.

"I surrender!" She called out as Kurenai sighed behind the girl. Despite the work she had been putting into raising Hinata's confidence the girl would still fall apart the moment anything regarding her clan was brought up, her father or Neji especially. Kurenai knew exactly how the two acted towards the girl and hated them for it.

"Winner, Hyuuga Neji!"

"Tch… a pity." Neji grumbled as he would lose his chance to beat up Hinata in front of everybody. Gai only shook his head at the bad blood between the fellow clan members.

**Temari versus Abumi Zaku**

"Finally!" Zaku cheered before heading down. Temari glanced at the boy who had both arms in slings before scoffing and following him down. When the two were facing each other at the floor Zaku grinned as he looked over Temari. "Tell ya what hot stuff, give up before I have to rough up that pretty face." He taunted as Temari scoffed again.

"I'd love to see you try cripple." She responded as he growled. Hayate looked to both of them before nodding and starting the match. Zaku growled and rushed forward and leapt into a spinning kick. Temari swiftly moved to the side to dodge as Zaku tried again. Temari leapt back before grabbing her fan but keeping it folded up. "If this is all then you may as well give up before you actually lose those arms."

"Mock me will you?" The boy growled before pulling his right arm out of its sling and pointing the palm at her. "Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Waves)!" He shouted as he blasted out a massive burst of wind straight at Temari. The girl's eyes widened as their was an explosion of smoke and dust while Zaku grinned. "So sorry hot stuff. Maybe you should've taken my offer."

"And you should've taken mine." The smoke cleared to show Temari's fan unfurled and stabbed into the ground like a shield, looking no worse for wear. Zaku gaped as she pulled it out of the ground and held it up behind her with a smirk. "So, is that all you've got?"

"Grr…" Zaku lifted his other arm out of the sling and pointed both palms at her before shoving as much chakra down his arms as he could. "Zankuyokoha (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)!" He shouted as an even bigger blast of wind flew straight at Temari. The girl smirked as the attack hit, even more dust and smoke flying up that before, some rubble included this time. "Gotcha bitch…" He muttered before a whistle drew his attention upwards. "No way!"

"What's the matter cripple? Can't beat me?" Temari taunted as she was crouched on her fan floating above the smoke from the last attack. "How about I show you a real wind jutsu now?" She asked before gripping her fan and jumping off it while swinging it down at him. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Sickle Weasel Technique)!" She cried as she swung her fan. From the swing erupted a small twister that enveloped Zaku as he screamed in pain, multiple cuts forming all over his body before she ended the technique and dropped to the ground. She folded her fan back up and place it back in its normal spot as she began to walk back to the stands as Zaku collapsed unconscious.

"Winner, Temari!" Hayate cheered. As Temari was walking up though Naruto stepped in front of the girl and held out a hand.

"Nice job. That was a wicked jutsu you used there. I'm a wind user myself." Temari nervously shook his hand with a small smile.

"Thanks I guess."

"Maybe later we could hook up and trade some jutsu?" He offered as she shrugged before walking back to her team.

"Maybe." She replied as she took her place next to Kankuro and Gaara. The red head ignored her while the other flashed her a quick grin. Attention was drawn to the board again as names were cycled through.

**Aburame Shino versus Nara Shikamaru**

The two Konoha genin walked down to the floor with only minor grumbling from Shikamaru about 'troublesome exams' as they took up their places across from each other. "Good luck to you Shikamaru-san." Shino called out as the Nara nodded with a small grin. At least against another Konoha genin, one from his class no less, he was sure there wouldn't be any overwhelming defeat requiring the medics.

"Yeah, you too Shino." He replied as Hayate started the match. The second he did Shino threw out a couple kunai at Shikamaru that the boy rolled to the side to dodge. Shino pressed his offense however as he rushed in to keep attacking. The Nara ducked under a punch and hopped back to avoid a kick before he threw a kunai of his own that caught Shino in the arm. However the kunai passed through it as the arm and Shino himself all dissolved into bugs that began to swarm him. "Shit!" He growled as the boy used a replacement to switch with a log and appear by the ram sign statue.

"I believe I win Shikamaru-san." Shino calmly declared as he walked out from behind the statue. Shikamaru whipped around to face him but the boy calmly pointed behind him. Glancing back the Nara saw an entire wave of insects crawling along the ground to rush him. Thinking quickly Shikamaru crouched down and ran through hand-signs.

"Not yet. Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Technique)!" He called out as his shadow twisted and rushed forward at Shino. The boy leapt back but then slammed his back against the wall as he hadn't realized how close he was. Suddenly he couldn't move as Shikamaru's shadow connected to his own. "Now call off the bugs and surrender or I'll knock you out by making you slam your head against the wall until you pass out." The Nara ordered. Shino thought over his options before coming to his decision.

"I refuse." He calmly spoke as his body again dissolved into bugs, revealing he was another clone the entire time. Shikamaru only had time to curse as the bugs swarmed him. He leapt to the side to dodge them but found himself being herded to a corner as the new swarm coordinated with the previous. Shino calmly walked out from behind the statue again and nodded to Shikamaru.

"This would be checkmate correct?" The Nara sighed but nodded and forfeited as the bugs closed in. Hayate instantly declared Shino the winner so the boy mentally ordered his bugs to stop which they did immediately allowing the Nara to breath easy knowing he wasn't going to get rushed by insects. The bugs all retreated to Shino's body as the Aburame walked up to Shikamaru and offered a hand. "Excellent match Shikamaru-san." The boy muttered a troublesome under his breath before giving Shino a small grin and shaking his hand as he wished him luck in the finals. The two walked back up to the stands as their classmates and jonin sensei's offered them all their congratulations and praise for a well fought match when the screen chirped as the next fighters were chosen.

**Haruno Sakura versus Hanamaru Hikari**

Sakura looked over to see the Iwa Kunoichi grinning madly at the idea of facing her. "I don't know if I should." She muttered as Kakashi narrowed his eye at the opposite team.

"Whether you do or don't, I'll be happy as long as you try your best. It's your decision Sakura." The jonin commented as Sakura thought it over before glancing at Sasuke to see him glaring at the Iwa team.

"Do it. I bet the girls' the weakest on the team. Plus think of all the stuff they've done. They need to be brought down Sakura. I say do it." The boy spoke as Sakura glanced back at the Iwa team to see Hikari walk down after getting a kiss from Naruto.

"Do you think I can Sasuke-kun?" She asked as the boy shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. But I think you need to try." He replied so the girl thought over all her options before steeling herself and nodding. She flashed her teammate and sensei a small grin to try and hide the nervousness she was feeling before walking down to the floor. Kakashi kept his face blank but was inwardly scowling at how she was once again doing what Sasuke wanted instead of what was smart for her. He wasn't lying when he said it was her choice or that he'd be happy so long as she gave it her best, but the smart thing to do here would've been to forfeit as there was little chance the girl could beat her opponent.

"So weakling, ya ready to lose?" Hikari taunted as Sakura took a deep breath and steeled herself for the match.

"Haruno Sakura of Konoha versus Hanamaru Hikari of Iwa. Hajime!" Hayate called out as Sakura reacted instantly and threw out shuriken at the heiress. Hikari simply used the gauntlets around her wrists to slap the shuriken to the ground before Sakura made some hand seals and rushed her as two more copies appeared. Hikari grinned and waited as the first Sakura through a punch at her. Hikari ducked under it, not knowing or caring if it was an illusion as the second Sakura tried to kick her. The heiress rolled forward under the kick and sprung up in between the three Sakura's before lashing out with a roundhouse that dispelled the clones and knocked the real Sakura back as she was caught in the side by the attack.

"Got anything better than basic clones weakling?" Hikari taunted as Sakura got back to her feet, holding her side where she had been hit. Hikari quickly rushed forward and threw a punch at Sakura that the girl raised her arms to block. However she left her stomach wide open in doing so letting Hikari slam her knee up into the girls sternum. Sakura coughed up some spit at the blow before Hikari punched her in the face hard enough to slam her back against the wall. "Ya know, Kunoichi like you make me sick. It's pretty obvious to everyone that you barely, if ever, train like you should. I'll bet you spend all your time trying to look good for someone, likely that little Uchiha wimp up there. Am I right?"

"Wha… what do you know?" Sakura gasped out as she used the wall to help her stand. Hikari scowled as she held out her right arm and pulled the sleeve back to reveal her gauntlet as well as a couple small scars.

"I know that anybody that really trains should have a few of these unless they have some super healing ability!" She said referencing her marks. "Your arms are exposed so it's easy to see the smooth and flawless skin. That right there shows that you never train hard enough to be a threat. Your hair seems to shine a little brighter than mine or the jonin Kunoichi up above us. That shows you put a lot of time into it. But unless you plan on being a seduction expert all of that is worthless to a ninja!" Hikari shouted before flicking her wrist as a blade popped out from the bottom of the gauntlet at her wrist. "You know what I did to little weak bitches like you back at Iwa's Academy? I beat the shit out of them, even scarred a couple for life just because they were so pathetic." She admitted as she ran forward and punched Sakura with her left to slam her against the wall as she then held her by the throat. "But I tell ya what, I'll give you a scar right here so you can try and pass off being a real Kunoichi." She growled before slashing her face with the her blade straight down from the right side of her forehead down at an angle to her left cheek. Sakura screamed before Hikari grinned and spit in the wound. The second her spit connected it began to steam as it burned her.

"I surrender!" Sakura screamed out as Hikari growled.

"Winner Hanamaru Hikari!" Hayate called out but the girl still held the other up against the wall as she whined and moaned in pain from the now burning wound on her face. "I said you won. Let her go or you will be disqualified." Hayate warned as Kakashi appeared behind the girl with a glare.

"Now." He ordered and Hikari scoffed.

"And you call yourself a sensei? _Her _weakness is _your _fault Hatake." She taunted before throwing Sakura to the side where she crashed to the ground and began clutching her face. Medics rushed out to help the girl as Kakashi kept his glare on the heiress as she let out a small grin. "What? Gonna attack me? Make me pay for hurting her so? Or maybe for insulting you to your face you one eyed ugly fucking bastard!" She taunted further before walking past him as he stood glaring at her. "Oh that's right, you can't. Because you're weak! This whole fucking village is weak! And we're here to prove it." She shouted before leaping up to her teammates. Instantly she was wrapped up in Naruto's arms and spun around.

"That was so fucking hot, you know that?" He asked before setting her down and kissing her.

"Had fun Hikari?" Kurotsuchi asked as the girl broke from her kiss with the hooded blond.

"Are you kidding? That was boring as hell. If Naru-kun's match doesn't start soon them I'm gonna die of boredom." She teased as Naruto hugged her tighter.

"Oh so it's 'Naru-kun' now Hikari-chan?" He asked as she grinned at him.

"Got a problem with it?" She asked before kissing him again. Down below Kakashi had walked over to the medics that were trying to heal Sakura's face as the girl was crying.

"What's the problem?"

"Whatever that girl spit into the wound is preventing it from healing properly. It was highly acidic and corrosive, burning and eating away at the flesh on your students face. We can't heal it properly without cleaning it out but we can't do that because it infected her bloodstream and is working against us from within the wound." A medic explained as the girl was led away.

"So it's a poison?" The jonin asked with a sigh. The medic nodded before leaving with a parting word.

"A type we haven't seen before making it all the harder to heal. Hopefully it doesn't prove fatal." Kakashi growled as the medic left before turning a glare at the Iwa team, seeing Hikari and Naruto kissing one another while Kurotsuchi just had an amused look on her face. The man walked back up to his other student where nobody tried to speak with him due to the obvious anger he was radiating. Hikari's words had truly stung, and not only him but every Konoha jonin there at how she could insult them all without repercussion. But that was the way of the Chunin Exams, they couldn't touch her unless she broke a rule, and while she had come close Hikari had done as she was told before they could legally intervene. And her insults, while angering, we're perfectly legal.

**Kankuro versus Yamanaka Ino**

Kankuro let out a small chuckled before he leapt down to the floor as Ino looked down at him nervously before heading down to face him. So far the foreign genin were proving to be monsters. Each one that fought had won decisively and brutally, the last one scarring her best friend with a smile.

"Ya wanna give up blondie? I won't blame you if you do. I mean, you look like a twig and all." Kankuro taunted as he took the bandaged bundle off his back and set it next to him. Ino looked to the item before looking back to Kankuro and shaking her head.

"I've gotta try." Kankuro shrugged as Hayate started the match. Before Ino could do anything Kankuro let go of his bundle and his fingers glowed as the bundle unwrapped to reveal a puppet that began firing kunai at her. The blond began to dodge as she took out a kunai to deflect a couple that came to close when the puppet lurched forward and rushed in front of her. The girl let out a shriek before being wrapped in the wooden arms as Kankuro chuckled.

"Give up now? I'll break your bones if you say no!" He told her as she tried to wriggle free from the puppet but its grip tightened. "Last chance!"

"I surrender." Ino growled out so Kankuro chuckled but the puppet dropped her before it went back to Kankuro's side. Hayate declared him the winner as he quickly wrapped his puppet back up and placed it on his back again. Ino gloomily walked back up to her teammates as the Suna boy did the same.

**Akamichi Choji versus Tenten**

Tenten grinned and leapt down as Choji followed after her. Much like Shikamaru's thoughts earlier, he knew that against a fellow Konoha genin he wouldn't be horribly mutilated so he was willing to give it his all. Tenten gave him a small grin that he returned before the jonin coughed and started the match. Choji quickly made a hand seal and his body expanded into a sphere. With a pulse of chakra his head and limbs retracted into the sphere as he started rolling at the bun haired girl. "Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)!"

Tenten leapt to the side while reaching into her weapons pouch and throwing kunai and shuriken at him. The weapons were deflected as Choji's high speed rotations made them bounce off his form. Growling lowly in her throat Tenten made a plan as she dodged the boy. Choji crashed into the wall and was stuck for a moment before reversing his spin and pulling out after Tenten again. The girl grinned as she got an idea. Tenten took up a spot next to a wall and waited for Choji to charge her again. Right before he collided the girl leapt over him as he crashed into the wall again. She quickly dropped an uncountable number of caltrops around his still frame before jumping back. Choji reversed his spin and rolled out but because he hadn't had a chance to build momentum the metal spikes all dug into his from making him cry out in pain. He ended his jutsu to force the spikes out and the second he did Tenten appeared behind him holing a kunai to his throat. "I'd give up if I were you."

Choji took a look down at his bloody chest and arms before nodding as she was declared winner and medics came out. The girl put her kunai away and gathered up the spikes to put away before sending the boy an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I couldn't think of a better way to stop you." The boy just nodded as the medics helped him out. Up above Naruto narrowed his eyes and glanced around.

"Let's see; me, the Oto girl, that kid in green and the Uchiha…" He mused before grinning. He instantly slammed his hands together and started muttering under his breath.

"What're you doing Naruto-kun?" Kurotsuchi asked as he paused and looked up.

"Praying to get the Uchiha."

"Why? I thought he pissed you off for being so weak." Hikari pointed out and the boy nodded before pointing something else out.

"True, but so far, you and Kurai have faced and beat his teammates. If I fight and beat the Uchiha then that means all three of Hatake's kids will have been beaten and mutilated by Iwa and he won't be able to do shit about it. Can you imagine the insult that would be? Or the laughs everyone back home would get?" Naruto asked as the two grinned at his words as they could see exactly what he pointed out. Naruto went back to his mutterings of prayers as the screen flashed through names.

Hikari groaned and poked Naruto once they stopped for him to look.

**Tsuchi Kin versus Uchiha Sasuke**

"Ah damn it! I wanted the Uchiha prick." Naruto shouted as said genin growled from across the room. Kin just rolled her eyes at the Iwa boy's behavior before jumping down to fight Sasuke. If she was lucky she could complete their mission from earlier and kill the boy as well. Sasuke scoffed at how confident the girl seemed before jumping down himself. He remembered her from the forest and while he didn't see what she did, he figured it wasn't worth worrying about since she wasn't going to win.

"You're going down Uchiha."

"Keep telling yourself that." He quipped as Hayate started the match. Kin quickly tossed senbon that Sasuke dodged with a smirk, idly noticing the bells on them. The girl tossed more senbon that he dodged before hearing the sound of bells. However what puzzled him was it came from behind him. Kin took advantage of his momentary lapse of concentration to stick a couple more senbon in his arms. "Grr… I got enough of senbon from that hunter in Nami." The boy growled as he ripped the needles out. Kin smirked as the bells rung out again. Sasuke growled but kept his eyes on Kin before dropping to his knees as multiple copies of the girl appeared and his balance left him. "What the hell?"

"Finally taking affect huh? I used the sound of my bells to trap you in my genjutsu Uchiha. Now you're easy pickings for me." She taunted as she raised a couple needles to attack. She was not expecting the boy to start laughing.

"You don't know anything do you?" He taunted as she growled before he stood up confidently and tossed a kunai directly at her. The girl yelped as she rolled to the side.

"But how? My genjutsu-!"

"Genjutsu doesn't work on the Sharingan!" Sasuke shouted as he revealed his eyes had changed to blood red with two tomoes in each eye. The girl gasped at the how he was immune to her attacks before he rushed in and kicked her hard across the face while she was stunned. She flew back to the wall and slumped down as she growled. However Sasuke rushed up before she could recover and kneed her in head, knocking her out.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!" Hayate called out as the boy smirked and walked back up to the stands. "Would our last two fighters come down now?" Hayate called out.

**Rock Lee versus Namikaze Naruto**

**(Author's Note: The entire time I was typing the following portion of the chapter I had Ghost by Gackt set on repeat. Personally I think it sets a nice pace for the fight.)**

The name flashed onto the board and the reaction was instant. The second the Konoha ninja saw the Iwa genin's name shouts of 'impossible' rang out, none louder than Kakashi's. "That's not possible!" He shouted as he gaped at the name. Sasuke looked over to it and shrugged.

"What's so hard to believe about some no-name nothing?"

"Sasuke… Namikaze was the surname to my sensei, the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato." Kakashi growled out, getting the Konoha genin to gape in shock as the boy grinned from across the room. How was that possible? If the Yondaime had a child wouldn't they be a Konoha Shinobi? Plus why hadn't anyone ever heard of the existence of him?

"Naruto-kun, I think the hood is useless now." Kurotsuchi muttered as she sighed. She had forgotten to tell Naruto not to put his full name down for Konoha to discover him. Though judging from the boy's chuckles she wondered if he would've followed that order regardless. The boy laughed before jumping down to his spot on the floor and waiting for Lee.

"Well, come on then! I want a challenge!" He called out as he flipped his hood back revealing his spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes with three whisker marks on each cheek.

"Impossible! He looks just like Yondaime-sama!" Gai remarked as he looked down and Kakashi paled. He had only seen Naruto once before he was sent away and the boy had blond hair and whiskers. The same whiskers that were on the Iwa genin's face. "This must be some sort of trick by Iwa. Yondaime-sama never had a child." The green clad jonin stated with certainty as he nodded to himself, not seeing Kakashi's shocked and pale face. "Lee! Go down there and show this unyouthful genin from Iwa that Konoha does not tolerate such tricks." The man ordered as Lee saluted and jumped down.

From his place at the head of the room Sarutobi's face was blank. His thoughts though were another matter entirely. _'HOW?! How did Iwa get there grasp on him? It just can't be possible!' _He thought of the warning that apparently Naruto himself had given as he frowned slightly. _'To claim what's his means the inheritance Minato and Kushina left for him. Iwa must suspect I'm holding it as there's no possible way from them to know it's true. Since two genin have already passed, Onoki will be coming himself within a month. He'll try to pressure me but I can't give in. I'll have to try and get Naruto back somehow. He cannot be allowed to remain in Iwa!'_

"Yosh! I shall defeat you for such an unyouthful trick such as claiming to be related to our Yondaime!" Lee declared as Naruto ignored that and rolled his head on his shoulders.

"Tell ya what 'brows', I want a challenge. What d'ya specialize in? I'll restrict myself to the same art and beat the shit out of you." Naruto offered as Lee got into his stance.

"I specialize in taijutsu as I am unable to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu." Naruto grinned at the answer before getting into his own stance.

"Sweet, that's my specialty too. This'll be fun." Lee gave him a somewhat eager grin as he was wanting to fight as well as Hayate coughed.

"Rock Lee of Konoha versus… Namikaze Naruto… of Iwa. Hajime!" He slowly declared, trying to figure out just what was going on. The second he declared the match was started Naruto and Lee darted forward, Lee leaping into a spinning kick as Naruto threw out a punch to match. The two attacks collided with an echoing bang before Naruto pulled back and Lee landed as they leapt at each other with a flurry of rapid punches and kicks. Everything Naruto would throw out would be blocked and parried while everything Lee retaliated with was ducked and weaved around. It quickly became apparent that Naruto was the faster of the two as he started to land a few small punches and kicks as Lee had yet to land one. Giving a hard kick that was blocked the blond then struck Lee in the chest with an open palm to send him skidding back. Naruto leapt after him, flipping through the air to build momentum before dropping down in an axe kick. Lee put his arms up to block and another bang echoed out as the floor cracked under the clashing genin.

"Strong…" Gai muttered as he watched his student struggle against the Iwa genin, in his own art no less. Naruto flipped off Lee as the boy rushed in and tried a sweep kick at the upside-down blonds' head. Naruto shot his hand out to push off the ground and flipped over the leg before landing on his feet and aiming a knee at Lee's ducked head. The green genin pushed it aside with his arm before rising up with an uppercut that Naruto leaned back to dodge before smashing his head forward in a head butt, his headband's metal plate striking Lee's unprotected forehead with a painful smack. The boy stumbled back as Naruto pressed his advantage by kicking his right leg up to strike Lee's chin. As Lee's head snapped back Naruto leaned further forward and brought his outstretched leg back down on the boy's chin from another angle to make him bend forward as his head was struck down. Still balancing himself on only his left leg, Naruto kicked the other forward again hard enough to send Lee back into the wall as he flipped from the force of his own kick. Naruto landed from his flip in a crouch as Lee got up from hitting the wall and rubbed some blood off his chin as he spit out a small bit of blood.

"You are strong Iwa-san. I am honored to be facing you." Lee praised as he got back in his stance to charge again. Naruto chuckled lightly and motioned with his hand for the boy to bring it so Lee grinned and charged in again. Despite the reasoning behind the fight, nothing got Lee's blood pumping faster than testing himself against another and Naruto was proving to be the greatest test he had ever faced outside of his rival Neji. Lee came in with an axe kick that Naruto stepped to the side to avoid before he continued the move by sweeping Naruto's legs out from under him. Rather than fight against the attack Naruto let his legs be taken out from under him as he shot his arms down to brace himself to mule kick Lee. The green genin rolled to the side as Naruto spun his hands beneath him to begin spinning and sending multiple kicks at the taijutsu focused genin. Lee blocked kick after kick before Naruto dropped his legs low and used one to sweep Lee's out from under him in a mimicking of the boy's previous move. With his other leg he kicked Lee into the air as he flipped back upright. Leaping up Naruto buried his knee into the airborne boy's gut before unleashing a furious combination of punches and ending with a spinning kick that sent Lee through the uppermost fingers of the statue. Naruto landed in a crouch before standing up and crossing his arms.

"Come on 'brows' I can tell that hurt but you aren't done yet." He called out as the other genin were gaping in shock. The jonin were staring stunned at how a genin was fighting at such a high level when Lee leapt up from behind the statue and landed on the broken fingers and sent the boy a grin.

"Truly a wondrous match is it not Iwa-san?!" He asked as Naruto chuckled and nodded. He was actually having fun. Seeing how Lee was having trouble Gai called out to his student.

"Lee! Take 'em off!" The boy gaped as Naruto narrowed his eyes. Lee was about to ask if he really meant it and Gai interrupted him "You're going to need to go all out to win this Lee so I'll allow it. Now show everyone your flames of youth!" The man cheered as many people in the room shuddered at the flames comment. The boy saluted his sensei before sitting down on the statue and pulling off the orange leg warmers on his legs to reveal weights. Seeing them Naruto let out a grin.

"How much?" He asked as Lee pulled them off and put his leg warmers back in place.

"Three hundred pounds each!" Most of the room was now gaping n shock at the boy's insane weight limit as Naruto shrugged.

"Not bad. I left mine back home so I wouldn't have anything holding me back. I only went up to two-fifty on each limb though. Arms too." He commented as a few looks were sent his way.

"Then let us continue such a youthful battle!" Lee cheered before tossing his weights to the side where they crashed into the ground, each digging their own crater. Lee vanished in a burst of speed as Naruto ducked down to dodge the punch that flew where his head was a second ago. The boy then flipped back as a kick landed where he had just been. A swirl of green appeared as Lee began racing around Naruto. The boy kept his grin up as he looked from side to side.

"You're fast alright, but you wanna hear something?" He asked before vanishing as Lee was struck back by a punch to the face. "I'm faster!" Naruto shouted before vanishing, Lee doing the same a moment later. Loud echoing blows began to ring out throughout the room as the two genin began to battle at speeds no genin could follow. The jonin were following the match quite easily as their eyes darted from place to place, keeping track of every punch or kick launched. Without a word both Kurotsuchi and Asuma pulled their genin away from the railings as Naruto and Lee appeared balancing on them for a second before kicking off them hard enough to dent the metal as the battle continued. More bangs followed before Gai's eyes widened and he grabbed both Tenten and Neji.

"Down now!" He ordered as he ducked and pulled them down with him. Just in time as Lee crashed into the wall behind them. Naruto appeared on the railing on his hands as he stuck his feet under Lee's armpits and used the boys arms as leverage to toss him back over the arena.

"Excuse me. Not done with this kid yet." He apologized as he swung himself to his feet on the railing and leapt to the ceiling. Flipping so that he could use his feet to push off the top of the room Naruto rocketed down to the mid-air genin and slammed him into the ground before landing on him with a powerful axe kick to the chest. Naruto flipped of the boy and stood at the ready as Lee coughed up blood. "So, we finished or not?" The blond asked as Lee shakily got to his feet. The boy crossed his arms in front of his chest as chakra swirled around him.

"Gate of Opening; Kai!" He screamed as the chakra erupted.

"The gates?!" Naruto gasped out in shock, an act mirrored by every jonin of the room save for Lee's own. Seeing how Lee was still in position to open another Naruto charged forward. "Oh no you don't!" He growled as he spun into a straight kick that struck Lee's crossed arms and stopped him from opening the second gate. The green genin pushed Naruto back and tried to kick him but Naruto ducked under it and kneed Lee in the gut before punching him in the face. Lee skidded back as Naruto rushed in again and began to rain down a heavy combo of punches to the boy's chest and face before grabbing him by the neck and slamming him to the ground. He kept his hand there and dropped a knee into his chest. "If you don't give up or I'm not declared winner in the next three seconds I'm snapping your neck!" Naruto declared. Lee struggled under him but was too weak from the beating to get him off or open another gate. "One!" The blond shouted as he applied some more pressure to Lee's throat. The boy tried to struggle harder so Naruto growled. "Two!" Still Lee refused to give in and Naruto raised his other hand to bring it down on the boy's wind pipe to kill him. "Three!" He shouted as he brought his hand down.

It never reached though as Naruto was kicked off by Gai at the last possible second, the jonin standing over his now shocked genin and Naruto digging himself out of the wall he had been sent into. His teammates and sensei all leapt down in front of him as Gai stood over his genin with a solemn look. "You better have a damn good reason for attacking my student!" Kurotsuchi yelled as Kurai summoned his scythe and Hikari helped Naruto out. As soon as he was on his feet the blond shook his head and growled as his whiskers thickened and his eyes changed into red with vertically slit pupils. "Well?!"

"I didn't want Lee to die." Gai stated before helping his student up. "It was obvious yours had claimed victory but because the proctor would not call it and my genin would not surrender I took matters into my own hands. I apologize for attacking him but it was the only thing I could do fast enough to save Lee." He apologized as he bowed deeply to the Iwa Shinobi. Hikari growled as Naruto glared and Kurai glanced at their sensei. Kurotsuchi grit her teeth as Hayate walked up.

"Winner, Namikaze Naruto!" He declared while the woman crossed her arms as the entire problem could've been avoided had he called the match a second earlier. Naruto shook his head and let the Kyuubi's chakra fade as his whiskers and eyes returned to normal. Hikari hugged him and pecked him on the cheek while the blond stared from the bowing jonin to the genin look-a-like he had been fighting.

"I don't accept that. He didn't give in and the proctor didn't call it. We'll have to have another match some time to finish this." He declared as Gai sighed but stood.

"Again, I apologize for attacking you. Come Lee." He ordered as the genin looked down in shame at how his sensei had to intervene for him but followed.

"Would all the winners please come forward?" Hayate called out as he tried to get things back on schedule. Kurotsuchi nodded to her students so they walked forward as the other winners came forward. Anko dropped down with a box so he gestured for them to line up in order of their matches and told them to grab a paper from the box for their match placements. They went down the line until finally Naruto drew his and Hayate asked for them to call out their numbers one by one.

"Four." Gaara growled.

"Three." Kurai commented while glancing at the jinchuriki. This was a match Kurai didn't know if he could win. Or if he would want too. Gaara was supposedly a central part to the Invasion plan Oto and Suna were planning. While they didn't know if Iwa was participating or not, it wouldn't be good to injure the jinchuriki too much and stop him from whatever he would be meant to do.

"Five." Dosu called out.

"Six." Neji answered with a smirk. It seemed fate had provided him with what he perceived as an easy victory.

"Eight." Temari's voice rang out.

"Two." Shino muttered.

"One." Hikari stated with a grin. She was getting a chance to pound another Konoha genin away. And in the opening match too.

"Ten." Kankuro groaned.

"Nine." Tenten called while glancing at Kankuro. His puppet could be a problem.

"Eleven." Sasuke grunted, not liking that he got the last number.

"Seven." Naruto finished with a small glance at his fellow wind user as Hayate wrote the names down before turning his clipboard around.

**R1 - **Hanamaru Hikari vs. Aburame Shino

**R2 - **Kurai vs. Sabaku no Gaara

**R3 - **Kinuta Dosu vs. Hyuuga Neji

**R4 - **Namikaze Naruto vs. Temari

**R5 - **Tenten vs. Kankuro

**R6 - **Winner of 1 vs. Winner of 2

**R7 - **Winner of 3 vs. Winner of 4

**R8 - **Winner of 5 vs. Uchiha Sasuke

**R9 **- Winner of 6 vs. Winner of 7 vs. Winner of 8

"This is how the matches will go. In thirty days you will all compete in the Konoha Arena in front of various lords and daimyos for the glory of your respective villages." Hayate explained before the Hokage dismissed them all to leave. No doubt some wanted their rest after the forest and he also needed to make a few plans for Onoki's eventual appearance.


	18. Arc 3 Chapter 5

**Luiz4200: **The people won't know about it at first. I highlight it a little here and in the next chapter that people who see Naruto are thinking he's just a Yamanaka that styled his hair. Most aren't taking notice of the headbands so they aren't seeing an Iwa genin yet and he has only really been seen so far with both Kurai and Hikari with his hood up so they haven't gotten a look at him directly. Now without his hood they will but they won't draw the connection or know he's 'claiming' to be the Yondaime's son until later. They'll be confused once they see him with the Iwa ninja but won't really think much of it for a little. The Shinobi present for the preliminaries though are another story. They'll for the most part be wondering or obsessing over it.

**dracohalo117: **He'll try but it won't happen. I explain why it won't in this chapter but I'm going to give my other reasoning right now. Whenever we have a 'foreign' Naruto story the second he's discovered he's called to the Hokage's office for a meeting. In the cases where Naruto is foreign due to an accident but still wants to talk with Konoha then I don't see a problem with it but in the ones where he's foreign and against Konoha? Why the hell is he still going then? It doesn't make sense to me that an Anti-Konoha Naruto would willingly walk right up to the Hokage and talk peacefully with him just to hate and possibly destroy them later. So I'm not doing that. I give in-story reasons why he'll refuse the meeting below in the chapter but the out-of-story reason it won't happen right away is because I don't want it to happen.

**roboguy45: **Not yet but eventually. Whether people like to admit it or not, Sasuke and Naruto make perfect rivals and counters for the other which is why I'll be building the Uchiha up for an eventual super fight with Naruto. It won't be the main fight of the story like canon is planning it to be and neither will Sasuke be Naruto's ultimate challenge but eventually Sasuke will reach a level where he can challenge Naruto and the two will have a great fight.

**Dante5986: **You've never read Fullmetal Shinobi by Kenichi618 have you? His Chunin Exams in that story go through every match before the invasion begins. Also, how do you know Hikari could fight Gaara when I've carefully kept most of her actual combat skills a secret so far?

**Kid Buu: **Arc three covers everything from the Exams to the Invasion as I feel the two are so closely tied together they are essentially the same arc. Arc four is what happens after the Exams and the beginning of a more original storyline than canon.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Five - **Potential Fears

"First off, excellent work you three. All of you made it to the finals. Oji-sama will be extremely pleased with that outcome." Kurotsuchi remarked as the woman and her genin entered their hotel room after leaving the forest that held the second exam and preliminaries. Two of the three grinned as the older boy nodded. "Kurai, you're fight may have been short but that was good because you only had to use a single technique to win. Your abilities are still unknown so they won't be able to fully plan against you. Hikari, same thing only because your opponent was extremely weak. While Kurai permanently crippled his opponent, you may have just scared yours into quitting the Shinobi life entirely, which is just as good. And then you Naruto." The jonin started as she turned to her last student and the one she knew best. "While restricting yourself to just taijutsu was rather stupid, you performed at a level far above what anybody would expect from genin. Also, because you restricted yourself, your true skills are just as unknown as you're teammates are. So while it was a stupid move, it still worked out to our advantage."

"Sensei." Kurai called to get her attention. "My opponent in the finals is the jinchuriki to the Ichibi and from what you told us is a central part to Suna's plan with Oto. What am I to do? I am unsure if I could win and even if I could, the container would be severely damaged and unable to play his part afterwards. Should I forfeit or even attempt to win?" He asked as both his teammates nodded since it was a very important question. Kurotsuchi thought it over before shaking her head and sighing.

"I don't know Kurai. We'll wait for the Tsuchikage to arrive and he'll tell you." She told him before turning to Hikari. "Your opponent is an Aburame, which are well known for using some kind of super insects the clan breeds and then implants in their bodies. While not much is known outside of that, I think a couple of your clan jutsu should work perfectly fine for that match. In the meantime, I'll also work on your earth element over the month with you." She explained as Hikari nodded with a slight grin.

"I've already got a plan in my head and I just need to run a couple tests during the month to see if I got the technique down yet. I was just started on it back home before these Exams." Kurotsuchi smiled before turning to Naruto.

"Your opponent is a wind user like you so you should be able to counter, negate, or even redirect her jutsu if you go at them right. All I'm really telling you is don't restrict yourself again Naruto. That was fine in the preliminaries but that shit won't work in the finals." The boy chuckled but nodded before there was a knock on the door. The team stiffened as the jonin walked over and opened the door to see an Anbu with a bird mask standing there. "What do you want?"

"Your team has been given training grounds thirty-eight for the one month before the finals." The Anbu explained before holding out a piece of paper. "This will show you where it's located but if you wish for a guide then simply ask someone at the Hokage Tower to provide one for you tomorrow." He turned his head slightly to glance at the genin behind the woman, specifically Naruto, before turning back. "Hokage-sama also requests your presence for a simple talk tomorrow morning."

"We refuse." The woman shot back lazily as the Anbu tilted his head, not expecting that response.

"You can't. Hokage-sama's orders are absolute within Konoha." The woman smirked and shook her head.

"Two things. One; you said request meaning we have a choice to refuse it if we want. And two; we aren't Konoha Shinobi. Under Chunin Exam laws, laws your Sandaime helped make by the way, as foreign Shinobi we are to be treated as guests. You cannot force us to do anything unless we break the law. And since we aren't your village's Shinobi but guests under international law we can tell your boss to, respectfully, shove his request up his ass. Good bye." The woman then slammed the door shut in the stunned Anbu's face as Hikari and Naruto were holding in their laughter and Kurai even looked slightly amused. The woman opened the paper to see the instructions to their training grounds and nodded to herself. "Okay then team, tomorrow we're going to these training grounds to work on a few things but I suggest you don't work on anything that you want to keep secret since I'm sure an Anbu or two will be watching us and reporting everything we do to the Hokage. Also, no going out on your own. Only in pairs or altogether for safety reasons. Understood?"

"Hai sensei!" The three chirped so she grinned and left for her room back across the hall while Kurai lied down on his bed and Naruto wrapped Hikari in his arms before falling back onto their own.

"Quick question; do you guys think I should kill my Suna opponent or not?" Naruto asked as the two leaned their heads to glance at him.

"I don't really care but I'll say no since she seems to be a Kunoichi that actually takes her career seriously." Hikari chirped as Kurai closed his eyes.

"Killing her would serve no purpose but neither would it hinder Iwa in any way I can tell. My opinion is that you kill her if you feel that you should but otherwise incapacitate her via non-lethal means." The stoic teen said as Naruto grunted.

"Alright then. I was just wondering. I'll ask sensei tomorrow just in case. I literally only thought about it after she left anyways." The boy mused as Hikari kissed him on the cheek before relaxing. Naruto hugged her tighter to him and smiled as Kurai merely fell asleep.

"We'll just train tomorrow Naru-kun. Speaking of, I'm going to need your help with that test I mentioned to sensei."

"My healing is gonna be put through the meat grinder isn't it?" He deadpanned as the girl chuckled slightly.

"Not if I'm doing it right."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Thank you Karasu, you are dismissed." Hiruzen sighed as the Anbu left and he turned to the three in the room with him. "Danzo, Homura, Koharu; we need a plan. If that boy really is Naruto then Konoha is in grave danger off of sheer possibility alone, especially if this gets out to the public. I've seen the boy and I'll admit, he looks just like I would've expected him to at this age and his skill level already points to this being an extremely possible chance." The Hokage told them as they were discussing what to do about Naruto. At first all three denied it but then he replayed the video recording of the preliminaries, specifically going straight to Naruto's match. Afterwards the three had believed him when he said it likely was the boy Sarutobi had sent away all those years ago, though they had no idea how Iwa got their hands on him or what the boy's feelings towards Konoha were. But just judging off how he acted during his match, they assumed he likely had some hostility for them all.

"This would have never even happened had you not sent the boy away in the first place Hiruzen." Danzo admonished as the man growled.

"Now is not the time Danzo! I already know what a mistake I made. Right now we need a plan to fix it! And before Onoki arrives in the village. I have a very strong belief he will try to claim Naruto's inheritance from his parents and despite what I may try, legally I would be unable to deny the boy. Minato didn't leave any instructions and didn't leave anything in his will other than it all goes to his wife or their child. Kushina was the same. That means that so long as the boy is an adult he can claim it, and by being a Shinobi he legally is such! All Onoki must do is point that out and I'll be forced to hand everything over. If I don't he can take this to both the daimyos of our lands and they will force me too. We need a plan!" The man reiterated as the three advisors scowled. From how the old Kage put it, it did seem pretty hopeless if Onoki managed to make it to Konoha.

"I doubt we could have Onoki assassinated on his way here." Homura mused before shaking his head. "No, even if it wasn't drawn to us, the fallout of a murdered Kage could bring about war like the missing Kazekage did before the Third War. Without a properly trained jinchuriki among our forces, war is not an option for us. I'm merely glad we've managed to keep it a secret that we no longer wield the Kyuubi and its might."

"Kidnapping or killing the boy is out of the option as well. Not only would Iwa instantly know it was us, killing him would bring back the Kyuubi in a few years and we do not have the might to face the biju currently. Kidnapping him would also fail as the boy would likely refuse to work for Konoha. We'd have better luck ripping Kyuubi out of him and sealing it into another however that provides different problems." Koharu added. "Only an Uzumaki can contain the Kyuubi and all our intelligence points to that boy being the only one of that bloodline left. We'd have to have him impregnate a few women to bring out a child that we could seal the beast into but by the time that plan would be ready, Iwa would be upon us to take him back. Due to Saru's mistake, they can legally claim ownership of the boy since he's their Shinobi."

"Our best bet would be to wait until after the Exams and send assassins that will kill off everyone in the Iwa party save for the boy and bring him back. A shame somewhat since Onoki is known for his Kekkei Tota and his granddaughter for her own Kekkei Genkai. Adding either of those abilities to Konoha's might would be a boon but the Kyuubi comes first and I cannot see a way to grab all three. Plus perhaps the young genin with the boy as they show promise as well. And actually getting our hands on a Hanamaru would allow us to learn their secrets." Danzo mused before shaking his head. "We cannot act before the Tsuchikage arrives but afterwards would be far too difficult. Our hands are tied Sarutobi and its your fault." The man glared at his old rival but put it aside as he tried to think of a plan.

"The most I can do is delay the inevitable by demanding a blood test to see if this Naruto is the very same child that Kushina gave birth to. The answer looks obvious though and then it would merely reinforce their stand." The man muttered. "I cannot destroy Minato's or Kushina's wills or the property it promises, not only did they reinforce them all with seals to make sure they could last but if I suddenly went and destroyed the Namikaze mansion questions would be raised and Iwa would know and be able to demand compensation in other ways. As it stands the only thing I can think of is trying to convince Naruto to defect to Konoha or make Onoki hand him over. Onoki would never let such a prize go free though and I can't speak to Naruto to try and convince him. As their jonin-sensei pointed out, unless they break a law I cannot demand anything from them so they may refuse any attempt I make at reaching out to Naruto as much as they wish."

"We could not afford to make any sort of trade for the jinchuriki as it stands to begin with Sarutobi." Homura pointed out as Koharu nodded. "All I can see at this point is trying to deny the existence of a will in the first place but doing so is essentially giving them free reign to go and claim it as they wish since we'd have no legal precedent to stop them with that route."

"We are backed into a corner with the only two ways out to be submit or fight. Neither is an option!" Danzo growled. "One will hand over some of Konoha's greatest assets and it's largest non-clan fortune to the enemy! And we lack the strength to fight back due to the enemy possessing the very weapon we would fight for!" Sarutobi nodded with the mans' words as he spoke nothing but the truth. It looked like his greatest regret outside of Orochimaru was coming back to destroy him. And the worst part was how little he could do against it.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I still can't believe that was really Minato-sensei's son…" Kakashi mused as he sat at a bar with a sake cup in front of him. Asuma and Kurenai were sitting with him as Gai was going to be joining them after seeing to Lee's injuries and going over the month's plans with the three students. As Kurenai and Kakashi only had a student each to worry about for the next month, and Asuma had none, they had already finished explaining the next month's plans to their genin.

"I thought Yondaime-sama didn't have a child. Or a wife for that matter." Asuma mused as Kakashi shook his head. "You're telling me he had both?" Kakashi nodded and was about to explain as Gai sat down at their table.

"Ah, my friends. It's good for us to get together like this once again. I only wish all of us could have had the pleasure of glorifying our students marvelous flames of youth this night. However I believe that team from Iwa has dulled those flames with their actions." The man mused as he sat down, for once not shouting as he normally did. "Kakashi, my eternal rival. You knew Yondaime-sama better than us, what do you know about Lee's opponent?" The man asked.

"I was about to get to that when you sat down Gai so perfect timing." The one-eyed jonin remarked so Gai gave a small grin before dropping it and waving for the man to explain. The jonin swirled the sake in his cup for a second and sighed. "Alright, what I'm about to explain is an A-rank secret that's likely going to be revealed soon, whether Hokage-sama wants it to or not. Minato-sensei married in secret towards the end of the Third War. It was kept secret because of the hatred he received from both Iwa and Kumo, though his wife received just as much for her own exploits." He mused before looking around and slipping a small silencing seal under the table and activating it. They were standard issue for Anbu and as an ex-agent of the elite force Kakashi could still get them when he wanted to.

"So who'd he marry? I know she has to be dead as well otherwise people would likely know about her."

"Oh you all know her, you just didn't know this about her. He married Uzumaki Kushina, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero." The man told them as their eyes widened in shock. Sure it was common knowledge that Kushina and Minato were close when they were alive and despite the protests from the Yondaime's fan girls, it was believed they would marry soon. Apparently they did without anyone knowing about it. "The marriage was kept a secret to only the Hokage, Sannin, myself and a few others. Kushina-sama's pregnancy was kept to even fewer; myself, Jiraiya-sama and the Hokage. She gave birth the same day of the Kyuubi attack and apparently Minato-sensei had no other choice but to seal the beast into his newborn son. Kushina-sama apparently died holding it down for him to do so."

"Then how did Iwa get their hands on the kid? If this is that same kid in the first place that is." Asuma asked as Kakashi shook his head.

"It is. They named their son Naruto and I laid eyes on him just once before hand. Blond hair and whisker like birthmarks on his cheeks. That was the same boy, it has to be."

"Then how did Iwa get him?" Kurenai cut in. Kakashi sighed as he thought back to that night.

"Feelings were high after the attack as you all know. Hokage-sama had just retaken the position and all the Shinobi of the village knew that a jinchuriki had been made. It was the only way to truly stop a biju so it was obvious that was what happened. Somehow the village got out word of it, only they didn't hear 'jinchuriki'. They heard 'demon in human form'. Hokage-sama must've thought the village would never accept him or something because he ordered a jonin to spirit him out of the village to a civilian family on the border to be raised. They were spotted on the way by Root Anbu though because I was sent out shortly after to try and protect the boy but when I caught up everyone was dead but both Naruto and the scroll meant to explain who and what he was? They were both missing. I could determine that both parties killed each other and that another group had run through but that was it. That other group must've taken both Naruto and the scroll and they either were Iwa spies or they later lost him to Iwa. Those are the only things I can think of." Kakashi finished as his jonin friends all took drinks of their sake and mulled over what they had just learned.

"I know dad and know he had to send out search parties. They'd never go to Iwa though since everyone would expect them to kill anyone related to Yondaime-sama on sight." Asuma started. "But what I don't get is dad sending the boy away in the first place, it doesn't make sense."

"What's in the past is in the past to stay Asuma. I'm more worried about the future." Kurenai added as they turned to her. "No offense to you or your student Gai but Lee was demolished and the boy restricted himself to just taijutsu simply to enjoy the match more. And then when you kicked him away to save your student, did any of you notice the change that came over the boy? His whisker's got thicker and his eyes were red. I'd think its safe to say he has some control over the Kyuubi. Not surprising since Iwa has two jinchuriki to help him with it." She explained before shaking her head. "Now imagine all that, but raised with Iwa's hatred against us." The other three went wide eyed as Kakashi looked down.

"I think it may be worse than that. Remember last time we met and I told you about my recent mission to Nami and how an Iwa team ruined it and escaped punishment through political loop-holes?" The man asked as they looked shocked and he nodded. "Yeah, same three. I asked their sensei during the second test if she knew them and she happily told me they weren't two chunin and a jonin like I thought but all three were her genin. That's when I warned Hokage-sama about them. And remember before the preliminaries, his comment against the Hokage? About the kunai? I'd say Minato-sensei's son already hates Konoha to some extent." Gai summed it up best for all of them in his own way after downing a glass of sake.

"If that boy is given the chance he can destroy Konoha, both physically and spiritually by the virtue of his skills and birth."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"A message from Kurotsuchi in Konoha sir!" A jonin called out as the diminutive Kage let the man enter his office. Onoki perked up and grabbed the scroll with a grin before looking it over.

_Start your trip Oji-sama because all three made it to the Finals! And Naruto-kun has been discovered so it might be best to hurry. Konoha is likely to only obey the laws for so long before even these tree-lovers finally snap. Looking forward to your arrival. ~Kurotsuchi_

"Send for Deidara and Akatsuchi right now." The Kage ordered as the jonin bowed and left the room. The small man set the message down as he thought of his plans for Konoha, as well as Orochimaru's offer. To join in the destruction of Konoha or not? _'Well first things first.' _The man mused. _'Getting Naruto the inheritance he deserves. Then using them for Iwa's gain. If all goes well then Iwa can have an entire army of __Hirashin (Flying Thunder God)__ using ninja. And if not then the secret fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan will more than make up for it. Should Sarutobi and Konoha try anything to get out of handing over what is rightfully the boy's then Iwa will join Orochimaru's plot on the spot.'_ He thought as the two jonin he asked for entered the room and stood in front of him.

"You called Tsuchikage-sama?" Akatsuchi asked as Deidara stood next to him with a bored look. Onoki looked the two over and nodded.

"Pack your bags you two. You will be accompanying me to Konoha as all three of Kurotsuchi's students have made it to the finals."

"So the little gaki made it un? That's good to hear." Deidara grinned. "So how soon do we leave Tsuchikage-sama?"

"Tonight, I'll make us fly there in only a couple days."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was a couple days later as after training Naruto and Hikari had traveled to the ramen stand they had found on their first day in the village. "Hi again!" Naruto called out as he took a seat. The waitress and daughter of the owner, a young woman with brown hair that wore a white apron, smiled as they sat down.

"Oh, you two again. Hi. Where's your other teammate?" She asked as Hikari sat down to Naruto's right.

"He went with sensei to go somewhere else to eat since he didn't want ramen like Naru-kun here." She explained as Ayame nodded and Hikari us smiled. "One shrimp please."

"And three pork!" Naruto chirped as Ayame giggled but wrote it down.

"Okay then, that'll be up in just a moment." She told them before going in back. "Hey dad those Iwa genin are back." Was heard as she did before she popped her head back out. "Dad says hi and we're still not going to Iwa."

"Aw come on!" Naruto whined as Ayame giggled again and Hikari just rolled her eyes with a grin. "The best ramen I've tasted in my life and I have to run all the way to Konoha for it?" The boy just slammed his head down on the counter as Hikari felt her boyfriend was just being overdramatic. The two waited patiently for their order when the flaps at the front of the store were pushed aside and Lee, Tenten and Neji walked in. While Tenten and Neji were fine, Lee had a few bandages wrapped over various parts of his face and from the way he walked he had a few under his green spandex as well. When they saw the Iwa pair Neji sneered.

"Well if it isn't the liars from Iwa." Naruto and Hikari turned around to see who had spoken about them and when they saw who they narrowed their eyes.

"Oh, you. What do you three want?" Hikari muttered. The pair, as well as their other teammate and sensei, were angry at this particular team somewhat due to Gai's actions at the end of Naruto's match against Lee. The pair turned back as Ayame returned and set their bowls down.

"Here you go. One shrimp and three pork." The girl glanced up and smiled at the three Konoha genin even as they kept their eyes on the Iwa pair. "Oh hey, what can I get you three?" She asked, but was ignored.

"What I want is for the boy to drop his little act. The only Namikaze was our Yondaime and he died without a child or relative of any kind. Trying to fool Konoha just by looking like the man for whatever reason isn't going to work." Naruto's chopsticks snapped in his hands as Hikari turned her eyes to see him with a blank face.

"Never had a kid?" He muttered. "You mean to tell me that exile wasn't enough? He had to cover it all up as well?" The boy growled as Hikari frowned. "And to think, he was the only one I was willing to show mercy to."

"Covered what up liar?" Neji demanded as Hikari turned back to them while Naruto grabbed a new set of chopsticks.

"That he's the son of your Yondaime and was exiled on the same day he was born." She explained.

"But why would Hokage-sama do that?" Tenten cut in before Neji could insult them and declare them liars again. "If he's really the son of a Kage, he would've been treated like royalty here. Why would Hokage-sama even consider sending him away then?" She asked before shaking her head. "If you're trying to prove his claim then you're doing a poor job of it."

"Because I'm a jinchuriki and most of this village wanted me dead. I was exiled for my own safety. But hiding that I ever existed is another thing entirely." Naruto spat out as Lee posed a question.

"Excuse me, but what is a jinchuriki?" He asked before Neji cut him off.

"Like it matters. It would just be more lies." He spat out before turning around and leaving. "Let's go. I have no desire to eat near such lying fools." Tenten and Lee shared a glance before sighing and leaving after him, giving them a small apology for his rudeness as they did. Hikari just scoffed as the apology meant nothing to her and turned back to her food while Naruto was eating at a subdued pace. His thoughts were all storming around the info he had just gotten involving his story as Konoha knew it. Or rather, how they didn't know it.

'_So first I'm exiled for my own safety but then he hides my very existence? I'm going to make him pay! Whether I get my inheritance or not I'm going to beg Oji-sama to let me kill this place. They will pay for such an insult!'_

"**I agree kit. And did you notice how they didn't know what jinchuriki meant? That's standard back in your Academy. But here it must not be. I get the feeling you aren't the only one that's been erased from their history books." **Kyuubi chimed in and Naruto mentally nodded in agreement. It did seem a bit weird that they wouldn't know what a jinchuriki was. Then again, since Naruto was sent away, Konoha wouldn't have one meaning they'd only be able to teach about how their enemies have super weapons. A good village hides their weaknesses, even from themselves if they need to. If they were to teach about jinchuriki then all they'd be able to say is they were ninja of extraordinary might and that Konoha gave theirs up. Learning about such a stupid decision would no doubt call their village leadership into question and that's not acceptable. It would be much easier to hide the truth in that case. **"Which is apparently what they did kit**." Kyuubi added as he had been listening to Naruto's thoughts.

'_Doesn't change the fact that you and I will destroy them when the time comes Kyuubi.'_

"**And enjoy every second of it as well Naruto."**

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So Yoroi and Misumi were slain by Naruto-kun were they?" Orochimaru mused as Kabuto stood a few feet away and explained everything that happened in the forest to his team.

"Yes. I hope that's not a problem Orochimaru-sama." The teen finished with a slight grin as the snake Sannin waved it off.

"An annoyance and nothing more. Tell me, what did you think of young Sasuke-kun Kabuto?" The man asked as Kabuto pushed his glasses up on his face.

"He seems to have a lot of hatred in him. I think it would be easy to turn him to your side of things if nothing here in the village improves for him." The Sannin laughed as Kabuto pulled out a card and pushed chakra into it to reveal everything he had on Sasuke.

"But what could they improve? The boy is receiving the best training Konoha can currently give him and is falling over backwards to please him." The man shot out before chuckling. "But the best Konoha can give is not the best a Sannin could do. And that is why when the time comes Sasuke-kun will willingly hand himself over to my command."

"So it seems." Kabuto shrugged with a slight grin before changing the subject. "Since all of Iwa's genin made it to the finals, I assume the Tsuchikage is coming?" The elder ninja nodded. "Then when will you confront him about your plans?"

"After they have their little chat with Sarutobi-sensei. They plan on strong-arming him into handing over the fortunes left by Minato and his wife. The Namikaze Estate and everything within it as well as quite the hefty sum of money will all be given to young Naruto-kun and through him to Iwa. And if sensei should somehow refuse Onoki promised me that Iwa will guarantee their help. If sensei relents then it's only a possibility. Albeit a large one pointing towards agreeing with my plan."

"What of Gaara? He's fighting one of their genin in the first round."

"So long as Gaara can still do his part after his match I could care less. I'm more interested in watching Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun fight. A pity they weren't matched together but it seems I truly can't have everything I want." The man chuckled as Kabuto smirked.

"Is there anything else you need me to do Orochimaru-sama?" The man thought for a moment before nodding.

"Keep and eye on Sasuke-kun over the month for me. I'll be taking care of things with the Kazekage after I speak with Onoki about the plan. I trust you'll ensure everything's taken care of for me upon my return."

"But of course Orochimaru-sama."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright Sasuke. Over the month I'm going to drill you in speed and taijutsu mostly and if you managed to meet a certain level in both I'll teach you my signature jutsu." Kakashi explained as the boy was standing in front of him and looking around with a somewhat bored expression. The two were standing on top of one rocky plateau and were surrounded by countless more. Since Sai had been crippled, he hadn't been able to warn anyone about Sasuke's curse mark as he had yet to wake up from the instant coma the shock and pain of Kurai's attack and thrown him in. Likewise, Sakura had yet to come out of her bedroom for anything other than meals with her parents before rushing back in as she refused to let anyone see her with her new scar. As such, all Sasuke had done was started to wear a shirt with a higher collar and the mark was hidden. It still pained him occasionally and made it hard for him to use jutsu but he had done some secret practice within his home and felt he had a good grasp on it now.

"What jutsu?" Sasuke asked as Kakashi ran through a quick run of three hand-signs before holding his hand out as it was charged with lightning. He then dashed at a nearby rock and using his electrified limb he punched a hole straight through it.

"This one, the Chidori (One Thousand Birds)." He explained before looking to Sasuke. "This jutsu is a high speed jab with the penetrating and destructive power of lightning behind it. I've yet to find a defense it didn't instantly pierce. However the drawback to the jutsu is the extreme speed you must be running at to use it gives you tunnel vision."

"But the Sharingan negates that." Sasuke cut in and Kakashi nodded.

"Exactly." The man walked back over and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he looked down on his student. "Listen Sasuke, there's only one thing I want you to promise me about this jutsu. Never use it against a Konoha Shinobi. It's meant only for protecting your comrades. Do you understand?" The boy thought for a moment before nodding. He'd use it to protect his comrades, after all the easiest way to protect them would be to slaughter every threat to them. Starting with that Iwa team and the blond who claimed to be related to the Yondaime. He would pay for the humiliation he put him through after Nami.

"I understand sensei." He answered before looking to the hole Kakashi had made. "I'll get stronger. Strong enough to take down those bastards from Iwa."

"About them Sasuke…" Kakashi started as he looked to the side. "I want you to stay away from them if you can."

"What?" He gasped out, starting to get angry Kakashi would deny him his chance at vengeance.

"Well, their older member took out Sai in one move, and I don't need to tell you how he had been above genin level by now do I? He was a chunin secretly placed on the team to act as a genin for various reasons. If that genin could do that to someone above him in rank then you aren't going to be able to beat him with only a month of training." Kakashi explained before moving on. "As for their Kunoichi, whatever she did to Sakura's face wouldn't heal right and now she's scarred for life. While I know you care little for looks, its highly possible she could change what she used into something fatal. You may end up dying for a single cut if you aren't careful. And then the blond, Naruto. I'm still not sure if he's really related to Yondaime-sama or not but all the evidence currently points to it being a very big possibility. That means Konoha will try something to get him back so you can't kill him. Not only that but after his display against Lee in the preliminaries I know without a doubt that one month of training is not enough for you to beat him. So for your own safety, I want you to avoid them if you can." Kakashi explained as Sasuke growled before thinking to his curse mark.

Maybe with that dark power and his month of training he could over power them.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kurotsuchi was waiting at Konoha's main gate with her genin standing next to her waiting as well, though Hikari and Naruto were sitting on the ground relaxing instead of standing. The reason for their waiting was because she had gotten confirmation that her grandfather was going to be arriving shortly. A few jonin and Anbu of Konoha's were also waiting for the Tsuchikage's arrival as Sarutobi had requested a meeting with the man as soon as he arrived. The woman squinted down the main path before grinning as she saw three dots drop out of the sky. Looks like her grandfather went with the flying approach which explained how he made the trip in four days instead of the six it took her and her genin. "Get up, they're coming." The woman ordered to her students as the three dots walked up the path. The pair stood up next to their teammate and sensei as a few of Konoha's jonin noticed and pointed them out to the rest.

"Finally. Waiting was getting boring." Naruto muttered as the three figures got closer to reveal Onoki with his Kage hat on and Deidara and Akatsuchi walking behind him. "Oh sweet, he brought nii-san and nii-chan!" Naruto called out with a grin. Kurotsuchi smirked as the four stepped forward to the gates as the three finally reached the village.

"Good to see you again Oji-sama." She greeted.

"Yo! Nii-san, nii-chan, how've you guys been?" Naruto jumped in as Deidara chuckled.

"Just fine gaki. Congrats on making the finals." The older blond responded as Akatsuchi chuckled.

"We got to fly Naruto. It was great!" Naruto pouted at this as he glanced at the Kage that was busy begin greeted by a couple jonin from Konoha.

"Aw that sucks! I haven't gotten to fly since I was seven!" He whined as the jonin pair followed their Kage as he was being led to the Hokage Tower, Kurotsuchi motioning for her team to follow as well. The Iwa contingent received many shocked and sometimes worried or angry glances as they walked through the streets of Konoha. While not forbidden, most times the Kage of other villages would wait until a couple days before the test to arrive. Onoki however had shown up only a few days after they were announced. Not only that but tension between the two villages was still high from the Third war. As such a few of the older Shinobi were tempted to attack but didn't because they knew it would both fail and bring about a new war that they didn't want to go through.

Another thing that got attention was Naruto. After the prelims were over the boy had stopped wearing his hood, even changing back to his normal hoodless jacket instead. People that had seen him around the village during the few days hadn't paid him much mind, thinking he was a Yamanaka that had styled his hair after the Yondaime like a couple others had over the years. However now that they were seeing him with the Iwa group they were getting a closer look at him and many were wondering why a Yondaime look alike would be with the biggest Yondaime hating village. Not only that but they were wondering who he was in the first place to look so much like their fallen Kage.

The group was led to the Hokage Tower without incident other than a single older jonin shouting for them to 'go to hell'. Konoha's own Anbu had dragged that man off as the Iwa group just ignored it. As they were led up to the Sandaime's office the group was stopped. "Our apologies, Hokage-sama just wants to see Tsuchikage-sama." The man scoffed and gestured Naruto forward.

"I'm bringing in the boy or there won't be a meeting." He countered as one of the Anbu headed into the office to give the short man's response before walking back out and nodding. "You all may go do as you please. Naruto and I will be fine." Kurotsuchi and Hikari frowned but nodded with the rest as they entered the room to find Sarutobi waiting with his pipe in his mouth and his desk cleared of paperwork. His face was being kept blank but there was no hiding how his eyes were more focused on Naruto than they were on Onoki. As the little Kage took the seat in front of the desk Naruto stood behind him and slightly to the right and waited without a word, though the grin on his face gave Sarutobi many thoughts and ideas as to how they were expecting the meeting to go.

"Hello Tsuchikage-dono. Welcome to Konoha."

"Hmph. Let's cut to the chase Sarutobi. You don't like me and I don't like you so don't try and act like its any different." Sarutobi repressed the urge to sigh or growl but nodded. It would be easier to just cut straight to why the short Kage had come besides to watch his genin. It was the very same reason that stood behind the man with a grin.

The fate of one Namikaze Naruto.


	19. Arc 3 Chapter 6

**Kid Buu: **I've already said in my review responses last chapter. Jiraiya will first appear in chapter 20, next chapter.

**Luiz4200: **They will find out it's highly possible in chapter 20. I have an entire scene involving them and Gai planned out.

**metalsonic2000: **In case you didn't know, the Yondaime can't be summoned by the Edo Tensei. Kabuto explained that since his very soul was sealed it can't be brought back. That also meant that the Sandaime and other two couldn't have been brought back for the war since Sarutobi sealed his own soul and his teachers within himself as well in canon. Things will be different here in that battle but I still won't be changing that the Yondaime can't be brought back. As for 'her' I'm guessing you mean Kushina right? Well she won't be brought back either.

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Six - **Fears in Reality

"So tell me Sarutobi, how does it feel to stare at the jinchuriki you threw away and be unable to take him back?" Onoki grinned as the man kept his face blank. Oh how it must've been burning the Hokage to look at Naruto yet be unable to do anything with or against him. Naruto's grinning face as he stood behind Onoki with his arms clasped behind his back was only adding fuel to the fire. "Regardless, you know what I want. Naruto is to claim his inheritance. Unless you can show me a legal reason why he shouldn't, you are going to hand it over today." The diminutive man ordered as Hiruzen finally frowned.

"And if there is no inheritance outside of a mansion?" He asked as Onoki shrugged.

"Then the boy can do what he wishes with his new vacation home. But I'm sure the home of the Kiroii Senko (Yellow Flash) must have something the boy will find of value. Like perhaps a hidden room or compartment only available to people who shared the mans' blood." Sarutobi kept up his simple frown but knew Onoki had a point. While the Hokage himself had the mans' will, and the one belonging to his wife, as well as a few scrolls it was obvious that wouldn't be everything. The Namikaze and Uzumaki accounts were locked up tight and had only grown via interest over the years. Plus knowing how good both Minato and Kushina were with seals, Onoki's suggestion was quite viable. "But you can drop the act, I happen to have first hand knowledge that you are holding onto the inheritance from a very honest source."

"And what source might this be?"

"Oh come on Hokage-sama, I already gave you the warning back in Nami didn't I?" Naruto cut in as the man remembered the words he had given to Kakashi a few weeks ago.

"The snake… Orochimaru then." Both Onoki and Naruto nodded as the man tried to think of why the snake would go to Iwa in the first place and failed to come up with anything. "Alright, I have it. However I'd like a few things first."

"You're not in a position to demand such things Sarutobi." Onoki warned as the man sighed.

"Humor me then. I want a blood test done to see if this really is Naruto or an imposter. I also would like to speak with the boy alone for a few minutes." Hiruzen told them as Onoki looked back to Naruto and he shrugged.

"A blood test is fine. We expected that much at the very least. As for your discussion request, I promise I'll stay silent. Talk now or not at all." Onoki replied as Sarutobi sighed again, guessing this was likely the best he was going to get. The man looked up as Naruto had apparently dropped his grin and donned a stoic mask that hid everything though the Kage was experienced enough to see a bit of nervousness and anger behind it.

"Naruto, what do you actually know of your parents? Whatever Iwa has told you is likely a biased lie. I know they-"

"Iwa hasn't told me anything about them other than the skill they were feared for and the love they held for this village." Naruto interrupted. "Everything I know about my parents comes from Kyuubi, so I'll admit, I know more about my mother than my father." Sarutobi was both relieved and worried at that answer and tried again.

"Then it's still a lie as the demon-"

"Has said nothing but the truth." Naruto interrupted once more. "Kyuubi freely admits he hates both my parents and for obvious reasons. However he also respected them enough that when I asked him about them he gave me the truth. How my mother loved ramen and was a pretty big tomboy in her youth before mellowing out after meeting my father. How he was nothing but an intelligent and loyal man that was completely devoted to his wife. How they both were so happy to learn she was pregnant with me. He even shared his memory of that night with me so I know their first, last and only words to me. My mother wanted me to find a girl kind of like her and to stay away from Jiraiya's perverted habits and to eat my veggies and do my best in school. My father just said to listen to my mother. I know a lot about my parents Hokage-sama, you don't need to tell me what they wanted or felt or were like." Naruto explained as Sarutobi hid the scowl at how he seemed to have such a decent relationship with his tenant. He was hoping to be able to sugar-coat his parents and then use them as an argument to make the boy defect to his birth village but apparently that plan was almost ruined already.

"Then you must know they would've wanted you to be a Shinobi of Konoha. To love and protect this village." The man stated as Naruto snorted and shook his head as his grin finally came back.

"And whose fault is it that I didn't grow up here to do so?" He pointed out as Sarutobi stayed silent. "I wasn't forced to be a Shinobi of Iwa. I chose this of my own free will. Tsuchikage-oji-sama and Kaa-chan merely raised me, they taught me how to act and then how to fight. But they never gave me any ideas about Konoha other than the truth; you beat them in the last two wars and most of Iwa hates this place. However they never told me to hate it. I was given facts about Konoha, not feelings. It was actually you that gave me those."

"What are you talking about?" Sarutobi asked as this was news to him and yet said nothing about what the boy felt about the village. Naruto shook his head with a chuckle.

"The letter that you wrote to the man that was supposed to receive me. They kept it and showed it to me when I was five, which is when they also explained my heritage and my status as a jinchuriki. I read that letter myself. The letter that said how the village save for a few wanted me dead because of Kyuubi. The letter that said I was never to be brought to Konoha. How I was to never learn about chakra or my heritage. The letter you wrote telling them all of it." Naruto explained as Sarutobi went wide eyed as he knew he couldn't even deny that as it was exactly what he remembered writing. "You are a Kage, you're word is law within your village and must be followed by all its inhabitants. And yet instead of doing the smart thing and telling the civilians off and raising me as the hero and weapon I am to Konoha, you send me away to never know who or what I was. You _exiled _me and tried to _hide _my birthright from me. You tell me Hokage-sama, what am I supposed to think about a village that hates babies, that hates their own heroes and that is perfectly fine with punishing a victim for a crime they never committed?" Naruto asked as Sarutobi sighed.

"You will never join Konoha of your own free will, and your hatred of it is already well founded." The man spoke wearily, as if feeling his age for the first time. Naruto shook his head.

"Now I never said that. I'll offer you a deal. You want me in Konoha as your Shinobi then fine. I'll ditch Iwa and join."

"Now listen here Naruto! I'm not about to let that happen!" Onoki roared as he spun around and glared at the boy. Naruto just shook his head.

"I wasn't finished oji-sama. I've got a couple conditions that need to be fulfilled and I doubt he'd ever do them."

"What are they?" Sarutobi asked, hiding the eagerness in his voice. If he could get Naruto willingly back then everything would be set and Konoha would be safer and stronger for it. Naruto grinned as he looked back to the Hokage while the Tsuchikage fumed in his seat but was letting the boy speak first.

"Well first off my heritage must be made public and I get my inheritance no questions asked."

"Simple enough." Sarutobi nodded.

"Second is that I be made an instant jonin. I'll do a test or two if you really want me to but I want to come in as a jonin. I'm way better than a genin and I'd rather skip the chunin crap if I can." Sarutobi paused to think it over before slowly nodding his head. That one was a little tougher but could be accomplished with a bit of work. As long as Naruto could back up the skill requirement then there'd actually be no problem at all. "Alright then, my last request." Here the boy paused and grinned. "You and every person that called for my death that day are to line up and be killed by my hand." Sarutobi's eyes went wide as Onoki gaped at the boy before laughing hysterically. "I don't hate the village, just some of the people in it. I'll willingly join and defend it like my parents wanted so long as I get to kill everyone in it who wronged me that day, meaning everyone that wanted me dead and you for exiling me instead of controlling your village like a real Kage would. I'll even sweeten the deal. I know that if I asked Hikari-chan she would ditch the village and her clan since she hates most of her family. You can get the Hanamaru heiress in addition to the Kyuubi jinchuriki. How about that?" Naruto taunted as Onoki was still laughing in his seat.

Everyone who called for his death that day? That was eighty percent of the village! And then him as well. Sarutobi couldn't do that. Despite his power and potential, one boy wasn't worth all of that. Even the full power of the Kyuubi itself wasn't worth that. If he did that then Konoha would get their great weapon back but would be forever crippled and demoted to minor village status because of it. Even throwing in the heiress of one of Iwa's stronger clans wasn't enough to justify his last condition.

"I… I can't Naruto."

"So you don't want both the Kyuubi jinchuriki and the Hanamaru heiress in your forces? Alright then. I'll just take my inheritance and go back to Iwa in that case." The boy mused as he shrugged his shoulders and Onoki brought his laughter under control.

"Oh Naruto… I almost thought I'd have to kill you." He mused before glancing at Sarutobi. "Tell you what Sarutobi, I'll fully allow that to happen if you really want the boy. Just fulfill his demands and Iwa will even sign an alliance treaty with Konoha so that we'll never fight again." He taunted as Sarutobi slumped in his seat.

"Naruto… don't you care… about following your parents wishes at all?" He asked as the boy shrugged.

"I get a good diet, I did great back at the Academy, I've found a really nice girl, but I'll admit while I never met Jiraiya I am somewhat perverted. I blame Hikari-chan for that though." The boy shot out before shaking his head. "For the most part I have followed my mother's wishes and my father just said listen to my mother." He pointed out before grinning. "Or are you talking about the unsaid wish that I become a strong protector of the village?" He asked before scowling. "I respect my parents, even love them for what they sacrificed for me. But I am not them. I am me, nobody else. I'll follow my own path with my own choices. I have no love or respect for this village after what you did to me on their behalf and I never will either. If you wanted to try using my parents against me Hokage-sama then you should've made sure I was raised here in the first place." He growled as Sarutobi sighed and spun around before moving the picture of Minato off the back wall and placing his hand where it was. With a small application of chakra a seal appeared and the man ran through some hand-signs before biting his thumb and swiping some blood over the seal and running through more. Once he finished he pushed more chakra into the seal and it vanished as there was a puff of smoke and two scrolls appeared in the mans' hand along with a key. Sarutobi spun back around and looked down at them items before reluctantly setting them on the desk as Naruto picked them up.

"There's nothing that will change your mind is there Naruto?" He asked as the boy pocketed the items.

"Not that comes to mind but if I think of something while I'm here I'll let you know." The boy quipped as he got back into position behind Onoki and the man sneered down at Sarutobi.

"I think that's everything we needed to deal with." Sarutobi sadly nodded so Onoki got out of his seat and started to leave as Naruto followed. "A pleasure talking with you Hokage-dono." The short man remarked as the two from Iwa left and Sarutobi completely collapsed in his seat, lost in his regret at ever wronging Naruto.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Of course the gaki would find a ramen shop." Deidara mused as he stood against a wall in the hotel room that had been rented for the Tsuchikage and his guards. Currently Akatsuchi was sitting on one bed while Kurotsuchi was sitting in a chair across from them explaining everything that happened so far. Kurai and Hikari were sitting on the second bed of the room adding things where they needed. The girl had just informed them about their encounter in the ramen stand with the genin where they learned that Naruto hadn't just been exiled but hidden from Konoha's history.

"Yeah, it's better than the one back home too and he's been trying to convince the owners to move to Iwa so he could get more." Hikari added with a slight grin as Deidara snorted.

"Yeah that sounds like the noodle addict un." He mused before looking at Kurotsuchi. "So Kuro-chan, how do you think the meeting with the Hokage is gonna go un? Do you think the man will just hand over the kids' inheritance or are we gonna have to force it?" He asked as the woman shrugged.

"Not sure. It could go either way right now. But I know the Hokage is going to try some ploy to get Naruto back."

"Not like Naru-kun would ever leave Iwa." Hikari adamantly declared as she nodded her head and Deidara shrugged his shoulders with a grin.

"Yeah, he'll be too busy fucking you to leave won't he un?" The man teased as she turned red but grinned.

"Maybe…" Deidara laughed as Kurotsuchi groaned. Unlike the woman who found their active relationship annoying the older blond found it hilarious. Akatsuchi just didn't seem to care and Onoki had yet to comment on it so nobody knew his opinion on the matter. "Anyways, when are they coming back?"

"Right now." Naruto chirped as he opened the door and Onoki walked in with him following. The waiting group turned to the man as Naruto grinned. "Oh man the Hokage's face was hilarious in there."

"Heh, Naruto made him an offer he had to refuse. It was rather entertaining." Onoki added before standing in front of his genin as Naruto took a seat next to Hikari. "Now in just a few minutes, Naruto will be taking us all to his new home where we will be staying for the rest of or time here." Onoki started as the boy grinned and pulled out a key to show them while the rest of the group nodded, most with grins of their own. "While we are there we shall all be scouring the place for anything of use or value. And then tomorrow we shall work on your training. I shall take Naruto and aid him in his wind element since I finally have the time to do so. Kurotsuchi, you will work with Hikari on whatever the two of you feel necessary and Kurai shall work with Deidara and Akatsuchi. Any questions?"

"My opponent in the finals is the Ichibi jinchuriki of Suna. Should I attempt to win or not as you informed us that he is a vital part of the plan Oto and Suna are attempting?" Kurai asked as Onoki blinked for a moment.

"Good question." He muttered before shaking his head. "Give it a shot but leave the container alive and functioning so that Orochimaru and Suna do not seek retribution. I haven't decided if we're taking part in that plan yet but either way it would be more beneficial if you leave him be. On a side note, who are the two of you facing?" He asked of the other genin.

"Some Aburame kid and Naru-kun is facing a wind user that happens to be the Kazekage's daughter and jinchuriki's older sister." Hikari answered. "If I win then I face the winner of Kurai's match and if Naru-kun wins then he'll face either a Hyuuga or some Oto guy that manipulates sound. Then the winners of those matches will go onto a final round three-way with the winner of this other match between the Uchiha kid and the winner of the last of the first round fights." The girl added so Onoki thought for a moment.

"Hikari, you are to win you're match in any way you wish. So long as you win I don't care if you kill or maim your opponent or allow him to walk away unharmed. However no matter if you face Kurai or the jinchuriki I want you to forfeit. You already know how you stack up against your teammate and all of your techniques will have to be on a fatal level to defeat a jinchuriki, which we don't want. Kurai, give it you're best but don't kill or cripple the jinchuriki in any way. Naruto, don't kill the Suna girl but go wild on everyone else. If everything goes well then Iwa will sweep the entire event, although I'll admit that I doubt Orochimaru would let it go on that long before starting his invasion plan." The man shook his head as he extremely doubted that the finals would be allowed to actually complete. The genin nodded at their orders as Onoki spoke back up. "So long as the three of you perform well in your matches you can all expect promotions upon our return home." Naruto and Hikari grinned as Kurai nodded.

"So now why don't we go check out my parent's old home?" Naruto offered as Onoki nodded since he wanted to go find the secret jutsus of both the Yondaime and the Uzumaki and Naruto wanted to see where he could have grown up.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

'_Why is he accepted by her? Is he not like me, a monster despised by all?' _Gaara thought as he sat on a rooftop looking over the village as people walked by down below and the occasional ninja leapt by him. Gaara ignored them all. The civilians were nothing more than ants for him to toy with should the feeling take hold while the ninja could not hurt him. His mother's sand defense would ensure that. And if he was attacked by anyone then he would merely kill them and move on. It was just how things worked. The second anything threatened his existence he would end it. All threats were to be destroyed, it's how his mother taught him.

But Gaara was hardly concerned with his mother's teachings or other humans right now. No, his thoughts were wrapped around one Namikaze Naruto. The blond that called him brother due to their shared jinchuriki status. Gaara couldn't get the images of him interacting with the Kunoichi on his team out of his head. It wasn't a perverted interest. Gaara had no care for either male or female, had no desires for the pleasures of the flesh. No, it was how she wasn't afraid of him. The boy's older teammate treated both his younger partners with indifference that Gaara had seen a couple times before and knew he had eliminated all emotional ties to the world in order to become a silent and stoic killing machine. But the girl on the other hand, she obviously had emotions. However she didn't act as if she was afraid of Naruto because of the monster within him. Rather she would frequently laugh and joke with him and otherwise show her affections for him, affections he would reciprocate with ease.

How? How was it that Gaara was hated and feared for his demon and yet Naruto could still find companionship and even what he could see to be love? Love from another? The very idea was alien to Gaara. He loved only himself and his mother within him. To love another was to invite pain and sorrow. He had learned that from loving his uncle only to be betrayed, to be attacked. So why? Why and how? How was Naruto accepted by her? Why was Naruto accepted by her?

"…_Maybe you should ask him after the Exams are over." _Temari's words rang out in his head as Gaara frowned. After the Exams was much too long a wait. He wanted his answers now. The boy looked down as he heard Naruto's voice and saw him walking with the Iwa contingent with his arm wrapped around Hikari. Gaara only thought about his options for a second before standing. Fuck waiting until after the Exams. The boy was going to get his answers now.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I'm telling you nii-san, this place has the best damn ramen I've ever tasted. Once you try it, you'll agree with me when I say we need to get the guy and his daughter in Iwa." Naruto told the blond as he shrugged with a grin.

"Whatever gaki, I don't really care about ramen too much and you know that un." Deidara retorted as Kurotsuchi and Onoki rolled their eyes, getting annoyed by the blonds' constant talk about ramen and nothing else. Akatsuchi just chuckled as Naruto huffed at how his 'brother' wasn't going to help him try to convince the stand owners to set up shop back in Iwa. However a swirl of sand made the group stop as Gaara appeared staring directly at Naruto. "Uh, who're you?" Deidara asked as Naruto grinned and stepped forward.

"What's up brother?" Naruto asked before spinning around to the rest of the group. "This guy's the jinchuriki from Suna that Kurai's gonna fight." He introduced for the three that didn't know before turning back to him. "You need something?" Gaara glanced at the group before looking to Hikari and then back at Naruto.

"I wish to speak with you about something that confuses me." Naruto blinked but then shrugged.

"Well alright, just come along with us, we can talk on the way." Naruto offered as Gaara tentatively nodded his agreement. "Great! We were just goin' to go get some stuff of mine here in Konoha." That puzzled Gaara slightly but wasn't what he really cared about so he ignored it and instead focused on what he came for while Hikari came back up to Naruto's side as he wrapped his arm around her again. "So what do ya need brother?"

"I wish to know why she accepts you."

"Huh?" Both Hikari and Naruto parroted as Gaara noticed that while the others weren't taking part in the conversation they were listening.

"Why does she accept you? Why are you not like me?"

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific there brother." Naruto told him so Gaara went over his thoughts before speaking.

"You are a jinchuriki like me yet instead of fear, she treats you with affection. Your other teammate is indifferent and your sensei and the jonin with you are not afraid of you. In Suna only the Kazekage does not fear me. However every man, woman and child, both civilian and Shinobi of any rank all fear me for my demon. Why is it that they do not? Why is it that the girl even seems to love you?" Gaara explained and asked as Naruto glanced at Hikari before looking back to Gaara.

"You… you have a rough life back in Suna don't you?" Gaara was silent but he didn't need to answer for Naruto to know. "Back in Iwa, around half the population hates me because of my heritage and looks. The other half seems to accept me because of what I plan on doing. Very few people back home actually hate me. I'll admit, jinchuriki aren't very well liked back in Iwa but they aren't openly hated either. As for why Hikari-chan accepts me and loves me, well that's for her to answer and not me." The blond told him as Gaara turned his gaze to the girl so she shrugged.

"He's handsome, he's kind, he's funny, and he's loyal to the people that accept him. He's also very strong and the sadistic attitude towards his enemies is sexy in my opinion. Plus he saved my life twice even at the risk of his own so I couldn't help but fall for him." The girl admitted as Gaara stared at her in confusion.

"Why were you never afraid of him?"

"Because there wasn't anything to really be afraid of. Before I met him I just heard a few stories about him from my clan that said he was vile and evil and needed to die, but they're all assholes that live in the past so I ignored that and decided I'd make my own opinion about Naruto if I ever met him. We ended up being placed in the same class in the Academy so I watched him a little in class but I never saw anything to hate or fear. His seal was made by one of the very best so we never had to worry about his demon taking over to attack us all, plus if you listen to Naruto then it likely wouldn't bother to anyways as long as Iwa didn't try to lock it right back up. He never really seemed like any kind of monster or anything so I just never saw a reason to hate or fear him. And once I got to know him I started falling for him and things just went from there." She explained as Gaara turned away and looked at the ground as they walked and Naruto chimed back in.

"What did you do back in Suna with all the people that would make them hate or fear you?" He asked as Gaara shook his head.

"Nothing. At first." He admitted. "The people have always hated and feared me for the Shukaku. And then when my training was not progressing to a level my father approved of he deemed me a failure as a weapon and sent assassins to kill me. I fought back, making the people fear me even more as I began to kill every threat to my existence. They first feared me for my demon, then they feared me for my power. Only one person ever showed me kindness and was not afraid. However it was later revealed to be a ruse in the hopes of killing me. It was after his betrayal that I came to the belief that I am to love only myself. To fight for only myself. It's only this way that someone can be truly strong." Gaara told them before facing Naruto. "When you introduced yourself as a jinchuriki I was expecting someone like me. You are anything but."

"Hehe, yeah I'm one of a kind aren't I?" Naruto mused with a chuckle as he thought over what Gaara had just said. "Well why not try finding someone that doesn't fear you and getting close to them? There's nothing wrong with being on your own if that's what you want, but why not give it a shot? I mean, what've you got to lose?" Naruto offered as Gaara looked ahead.

"There is nobody in Suna that is unafraid of me." He stated as Naruto shrugged.

"Then try someone outside of Suna. As long as you don't try killing them or anything then I'm sure you can find someone who could come to like you for who you are. And then you go from there. If you find you don't like having someone, then get rid of them and go back to being alone. If on the other hand you find that you do like having someone, then go and find some more friends. Whether they're just guys to go do stuff with or a girl to have fun and spend your life with, go do whatever makes you happy brother." Naruto offered before looking up and grinning. "Anyways, we're here, so we'll have to talk more later if you still want to brother. Later." Naruto offered with a wave as Hikari gave the boy a small grin. The blond then thought of something and looked back. "And look me up if you ever go to Iwa alright?" He called out as Gaara paused for a second before nodding and walking away.

He had gotten his answers and more. While it was foreign to him, he'd give his… brother's… idea a try. After all, like he pointed out; what did he have to lose?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So this was where my parents lived…" Naruto mused as he entered the house, the rest of the Iwa group behind him. Onoki took a look around before grunting and walking off as Akatsuchi followed him silently. Kurai was silent before he walked off himself as Hikari wrapped Naruto in her arms from the side and rest her head against his shoulder.

"You alright?" She asked. Kurotsuchi and Deidara were looking at the young blond as well as he shook his head and gave a slight smile.

"I'm cool… it's just a lot to take in. If things were different, I would've grown up here." He mused before looking around. "I could've grown up here, never met any of you or anything. Who knows, I might've fallen for some Konoha girl and then if I ever met any of you, we would've tried killing each other since we'd have been enemies." He thought out loud before closing his eyes. "It's just all those what ifs, ya know? I never really thought about them before since I grew up in Iwa and all but being here, for the first time… It really drives home the point how different everything may have been if I had been kept here instead of being shipped off for Dei-nii-san to pass by me by luck." Naruto stopped to think before Hikari leaned up and kissed him making him open his eyes to look at her.

"Well all those what ifs don't matter. You're a part of Iwa, the adopted member of the Tsuchikage's family even and you're a Shinobi for the village your parents fought against." She told him before smiling and kissing him again. "And your with me and I'll never let you go." The blond smiled as he twisted in her grip to wrap his own arms around her and rested his head on her own as he was still slightly taller than her by a couple inches. "We're the ones that love you now Naru-kun, and that's all that matters." The blond hugged her tighter before freeing himself from her grasp and looking around.

"Well I guess I better take a look around huh?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Onoki grinned as he walked into the study. In front of him was a large room with a desk towards the back and a large chair. Behind them was a bookshelf that took up the whole wall and was filled with various scrolls and books. The short Kage walked up and reached for the bookshelf but suddenly leapt back as his hand was shocked. "Ow!"

"Tsuchikage-sama, are you okay?" Akatsuchi asked as he came into the room behind him. Onoki shook his hand a few times before rubbing his back as the short jump had irritated it and that was irritating him more than the shock to his hand had.

"I'll be fine. Just a small barrier." The man told his guard before walking forward again, this time slower so he could get a closer look. He stopped when he felt his hair begin to stand on end and took a step back. "Right there…" He muttered before looking around. There had to be seals of some kind set up somewhere to make the barrier, it was the standard rule. If someone wasn't on hand to hold the jutsu then it would fade automatically given enough time. For a barrier to still be standing without one meant that there were powerful seals nearby feeding it the chakra it needed to stay active. Onoki grimaced when he failed to find anything. "Feh… looks like the bastard placed the seals in someplace out of sight."

"Does that mean we can't get the Senko's jutsu?" Akatsuchi asked as Onoki hopped into the chair at the desk.

"Not entirely. Naruto should be allowed past the barrier and if not then we'll break the place apart to get at those scrolls and books. And anything else of value here. This place and all it's contents now belong to Iwa."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Hey Naruto-kun, over here!" Kurotsuchi called out as the boy exited a guest room. The blond looked over to see her and Deidara standing by another door down the hall as he glanced at his lover next to him before walking towards his mother and brother figures. "We found the master bedroom." She told him before stepping aside so that he could see. The boy walked in to see that it was a large room with a king sized bed against the center of the wall furthest from the door. To his right was a large dresser and a door that was slightly open to reveal it led to a private bathroom while to his left was a closet that was slightly open and showed a few hanging clothes, a couple being the white cloak his father was known to have started wearing after being named Yondaime Hokage.

"This is where they slept…" He muttered as he walked over to the dresser and looked at the pictures on top of it. All of them were of Minato or Kushina in some way. One was of the man as a genin with his teammates and sensei before another was in the future with him as the sensei behind his three students. One of his mother spending time with a woman with long dark hair and eyes wearing the Uchiha crest and another had her grinning as she held up a bowl of ramen as Minato was next to her looking sheepish as he ate his own bowl. However the one picture that got his attention was of his mother sitting down rubbing her growing stomach as his father was standing behind her with one arm wrapped around her as the other was placed over hers on her stomach. The blond picked it up and slipped it out of the frame to turn it over and see a note reading 'Six months in! Naruto's almost here!'. The blond smiled as he turned the picture back over and stared at it while Hikari came and stood beside him.

"They look happy…" He muttered as she nodded. "You know, the only pictures I've ever seen are the ones Iwa has in their Bingo Books so they just look like serious profile pictures. You don't get much from those but this? You can just feel the love they had for each other from it."

"And for you." Hikari added as she looked over the other pictures. "You know, your mom was really beautiful. And your dad was a handsome man himself."

"Yeah…" The blond mused as he set the picture down and took a seat on the bed. Hikari smiled as she took a seat next to him.

"You know, they made a pretty good looking kid if I do say so myself." Naruto grinned as she pushed him back on the bed. "And to think, you're all mine." She grinned as she hopped on top of him and leaned down over him to kiss the blond.

"Really Hikari-chan? In the master bedroom? Right now?" He teased as she kept he grin up.

"Just think, the last time this bed was used, you were made." The boy paused before actually shivering.

"Ya know, that's kind of a mood killer actually. Sex in the same bed I was likely conceived on? No thanks." The boy mused as Hikari laughed and got off him. However when he tried to get up she grabbed him and pulled him down on top of her and then wrapped her legs around him to lock him in place.

"Aw come on Naruto…" She whined playfully. "Just think of how much of a waste it would be to ignore the bed. It's very comfy." She teased him as he grinned and kissed her. "You know, most people think it's kind of a turn on to have sex in their parents room." She whispered in his ear as he tilted his head and licked her earlobe.

"Yeah but like I said to my brother on the way here, I'm one of a kind." The girl shivered against him before he stood up, bringing her with since she had her legs wrapped around him. She laughed and giggled before she wrapped her arms around his neck as well. "If you really have to have your way then maybe later. But right now, I have more to see." The blond told her as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. She just giggled before lowering her head onto his shoulder while he walked out. Kurotsuchi muttering under her breath as they walked past while Deidara was grinning.

"Ya know, Hikari is really insatiable isn't she un?"

"Not now Deidara…"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kurai exited the house out the back door to come out to a large flat area with a few training dummies set up all over. In addition to the dummies were a few of the famed Hirashin kunai stabbed into various points on the ground. The teen was silent as he walked over to one of the kunai and pulled it out of the ground and held it up. Like the pictures in Iwa's history books, the kunai was three-pronged and the handle was longer with an indecipherable seal formula engraved onto it. The boy flipped it in his hands a couple times before taking a few experimental swings with the special knife. _'So this is the weapon that allowed Naruto's father to become the feared god he was.' _He thought before stabbing the blade back into the ground where he grabbed it and walking over to one of the dummies. While it was worn the wooden dummy was still in usable condition. Kurai flexed his hand before punching it and cracking the wood. There was a small glow before the cracks repaired themselves. _'Self-repairing seals…' _He mused before spinning around as Naruto walked out with Hikari holding onto him.

"Okay, down girl." He joked before dropping her on the dirt. She grunted from landing on her butt and pouted at him but he just grinned and stuck his tongue out before walking around. "So they had a good training ground for a backyard. Nice." He mused before stopping to pick up a kunai like Kurai had. "Ya know, if everything goes well I'm gonna be learning this jutsu." He thought out loud before flipping the kunai and tossing it at Hikari's feet. "And if you can, the two of you will too."

"You're willing to share your father's prized jutsu with us?" Hikari asked and Naruto shrugged.

"Oji-sama was planning on trying to make an entire force of 'flash ninja' so why wouldn't I offer it to my teammates first? Then, all three of us can just warp through missions and be feared as the greatest Shinobi team in history." The boy explained as Hikari grinned and Kurai nodded.

"I thank you Naruto. If I am able I will use the technique proudly." Naruto just shrugged with a grin as it didn't really matter to him. The blond then looked to one of the training dummies before whipping out his blade and dashing at it, chopping the dummy in half as he passed it by.

"Don't worry about it Kurai." He replied as he turned around and saw the dummy glowing and being remade in front of him. The blond whistled before walking back towards the house. "Sweet! My new toys can fix themselves." He chirped as Hikari had stood up by this point and as looking over the Hirashin kunai Naruto had tossed at her. "You two coming?" He called back as Kurai shook his head and Hikari shrugged but started to follow while still looking over the weapon.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You what?!" Danzo shouted as Sarutobi shared the meeting results with the three he called his advisors. "You gave them over without any sort of struggle?!" He roared as Sarutobi sighed.

"If you had been in this chair you would've been forced to do the same thing!" Sarutobi shouted back. "I spoke with Naruto himself and tried to reason with him but he shot down and countered every attempt I made with my own actions against him. And then when he offered to join, he made demands Konoha could not give."

"What did the boy want in return for willingly joining the village?" Homura asked as Hiruzen calmed down.

"To have his heritage revealed, be made an instant jonin and-"

"Those are well within our ability, why didn't you take the offer Saru?" Koharu asked as Sarutobi shook his head.

"I wasn't finished." She apologized as he sighed. "His last condition was that I and every single person who called for his death that day were to gather together so that he could kill us by his own hands for wronging him."

"Preposterous, that's most of Konoha!" Homura shouted as Danzo narrowed his eye. "If you were to give into that not only would we lose you Sarutobi but at least eighty percent of the village. The boy is needed yes, but not to that extreme!"

"He even offered to convince the Hanamaru heiress to defect with him and Onoki was willing to sign a peace treaty with Konoha if I agreed with his demands." Sarutobi added as Koharu shook her head.

"Those wouldn't make up for the losses we would take for submitting to his demands. And there was nothing else that could be done?" The man shook his head as Danzo growled.

"You have ruined us Sarutobi! We may have never seen eye-to-eye on many subjects but even you must see how much you have cost this great village today.." The man shot out as Sarutobi said nothing. What could he say? I'm sorry? Well it was too late for that. He couldn't change his old decision of sending the boy out or none of this would've happened in the first place. And he couldn't stop Onoki and Naruto from claiming the boy's inheritance because legally there was nothing to stop them from doing so. If he tried then he would've been making Konoha out to be a greedy and back stabbing village in the eyes of the public. One may wonder how the public would get wind of it but Sarutobi was no fool and knew that Onoki and Naruto themselves would've spread the story while going to the daimyo to force it.

"I know Danzo and you're right…" The man quietly admitted getting the old war hawk to go silent. "After the Exams I plan on going through the potential candidates and stepping down. I will remain as an advisor to the next Hokage but I can see now that I haven't been able to make the right decisions for Konoha since Minato died and this incident is simply the last of them." He admitted leaving the other three in silent shock. He was going to step down? "However that is not the issue right now. Instead, the issue is Naruto and what Onoki will do now that he has access to his inheritance. They've yet to touch the actual monetary accounts but I suspect that it's only a matter of time before they empty them. Danzo, your original plan was to assassinate Onoki and his group to kidnap Naruto and bring him back correct?" The man asked as Danzo shook himself from his shock and nodded.

"That's correct Sarutobi, however we lack the manpower to do so." The old Kage looked at his advisors, the closest people he could call friends after these long years as a Shinobi. They've drifted apart over time and lost the friendship they had shared in their youth but had remained in contact through these meetings for the good of Konoha. It was times like this that Sarutobi would wonder what had broken them apart in the first place.

"Then I will go on the mission personally." He announced as Koharu gasped.

"But Saru-"

"No Koharu, you will not stop me from doing so. I am sorry for what I have done and am even more remorseful for what I am about to order but it must be done for the good of Konoha. After the Chunin Exams are over and I choose a successor, I will lead a team to assault the Tsuchikage and his entourage with a secondary order to capture Naruto Namikaze alive. From there the boy will be forced to conceive a child with one of our own and the Kyuubi is to be torn from him and placed into the newborn the day it is born. All of the Uzumaki and Namikaze assets will be handed to the child under the next Hokage's protection" Sarutobi ordered as a single tear ran down his face. _'Minato, Kushina… Naruto… I'm sorry.'_


	20. Arc 3 Chapter 7

**traviswj: **Konoha currently doesn't know about the Invasion. That's why they're focusing so much on Naruto and Iwa, him and the Finals are all they have to deal with right now.

**metalsonic2000: **Someone from Konoha will die, by Naruto's own hand even. It just won't happen for a another few chapters.

**Peter Kim: **Actually Danzo wouldn't agree to killing off a big part of the village just for Naruto, even adding Hikari and an alliance into the picture. In canon, Danzo has shown he doesn't believe in alliances, believing they just blind you to potential enemies. Also, while very militaristic about it, Danzo does want what's best for Konoha and a jinchuriki and clan heir aren't worth so much of the village in his mind. He'd rather kidnap them somehow and then brainwash them into his pawns instead of giving up a lot of people.

**Appo1119: **Unlike the prelims which were mostly one-sided, only one fight in the Finals will be that easy (Neji vs. Dosu). As such I will be writing all the fights out and breaking them into a few chapters. They won't be all in one like the others were.

**Edo Madara: **If you recall, back in my review responses of chapter 17 (Arc 3 Chap 4) I already said there will be another OC character in this story to take Deidara's place in Akatsuki. I hate filler arcs and movies are glorified fillers so they will never be used or mentioned. I'd rather invent my own arcs and enemies first.

**SimFlyer: **There will be. I don't like the idea of everybody and their mother being able to Hirashin either. I only put that since that is obviously something Iwa would try if they could. But they won't, I'm not even sure if Naruto himself will learn the Hirashin.

**Authors' Note: **I have two things to say before I start this chapter. First is that Naruto and Jiraiya will have a talk this chapter that will change Naruto. Now he won't defect to Konoha ever in this story and he'll still for the most part hate them all. He'll just be more apathetic to the idea of killing them, other than the ones that piss him off.

The other is an announcement that my weekly updates to this story are done. As I said in an earlier chapter, I got a laptop recently and that is why I've been updating so much, in fact this has been the only story consistently updated every week since. That's because when I first got the laptop I went on a writing spree and for this story I managed to type all the chapters up to 18 in just a couple days. Since then I put out one to this story a week while working on my other stories as well as 19 and now 20 to this one. However, as of this moment I don't have 21 even started yet. I may get it done by next week for another weekly update but it's no longer a guarantee like these last few weeks have been. Just thought I'd warn you all in advance that the next chapter may be awhile.

* * *

><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror<span>

**Chapter Seven - **A Heart to Heart

"The key to wind Naruto is to imagine your chakra as a blade chopping through your target. It's called the cutting element for a damn reason after all." Onoki explained as he floated in front of the blond and held up a rock. With a pulse of chakra the rock split in half via a perfect slash of wind charged chakra. "You can already cut leaves and small stones so now I want you to work on boulders as large as you are. The final step is supposed to be different and requires a waterfall however because I don't know where one in Konoha may be and neither do I feel like asking, this is what you'll do instead. When we return to Iwa, I'll give you a scroll explaining the final exercise and you can use one of the training grounds with a waterfall to complete it." The Kage told him before flipping through a few hand-signs and slamming dropping to the ground to slam is palm against the dirt. There was a small shaking before five large pillars three feet thick in diameter as tall as Naruto was sprouted from the ground. "If you managed to cut down all five of these vertically in a single burst each in time for the Finals then I will teach you the only S-ranked wind jutsu I know."

"You rock oji-sama!" Naruto cheered before stepping up to one of the pillars and placing a hand against it before getting to work on sharpening his chakra for his elemental affinity. The two were off in one corner of the large backyard training grounds of the Namikaze estate they had moved into yesterday for the duration of their time in Konoha. Looking around Onoki could see Kurotsuchi talking with Hikari about something while farther off Kurai had his scythe out and was sparring with Akatsuchi while Deidara flew above and occasionally dropped down a small bomb to attack.

The Iwa group had moved to the mansion and land owned by Naruto's father yesterday after the blond and Tsuchikage had spoken to the Hokage and retrieved the boys inheritance. After a small search of the house and grounds the group had converged on the study Onoki had found with a sealed off bookcase only Naruto could reach. Due to this fact the blond had pulled off every book and scroll one by one and handed it to the Kage for him to see. Regretfully it appeared that most of the items were embedded with seals that made them indecipherable to the group, again save for Naruto. The lengths that Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had gone to ensure their secrets remained secret was irritating but understandable. As only Naruto could read the actual important items, Onoki decided to hold off on having him learn any of the techniques or secrets that could've been found in them for after their return home. They had also discovered the files for access to his parents bank accounts and had decided to empty them the day before the finals since they didn't need the money currently.

Naruto hadn't left everything alone though as he had found that two of the books from the shelf were journals written by his parents over the course of their lives. The first entry in his fathers was from after he made genin and he wrote that apparently it had been his sensei Jiraiya that had convinced him to write it, claiming that since he wanted to be Hokage he should leave behind something for the future generations to read to learn who he was beyond the title. Minato had taken to writing it afterwards at least once a week and especially after any mission the man had deemed important. A quick skim through had shown him the last entry was around a week before the tragedy of his birth so Naruto knew he had most of his father's life in his hands and was happy to be able to learn more about him. His mothers was similar in that it started in her genin days and went to a little less than a week before her death. The reason she had started it was apparently because Minato told her what Jiraiya had said and since she had also wanted the Hokage position she started her own as well, though even after giving up on the goal as she fell for Minato and it became obvious he would claim the rank she still kept adding to it as it had become a habit and comforting distraction for her.

It was through his parents journals he had learned that his godfather was the very Sannin his mother had apparently warned him not to be like in Jiraiya. This shocked Naruto and he had begun to wonder just how the man may have been affected since the Hokage's decision to send him away and his subsequent vanishing to Iwa. Very little had been heard about the man since his father's death outside of a few notices of him coming back to Konoha every couple of months making Onoki and Naruto wonder what he was up too. His godmother was also listed as being his mothers' best friend in life Uchiha Mikoto. While the blond also wondered how she had felt at his exile, he knew in her case he could never find out since she had to have died in the Uchiha massacre since the only living Uchiha left were the weakling in the Exams with him and their own killer Itachi.

Grunting in effort as he carved into the pillar with his elemental chakra, Naruto's thoughts went around to the staying arrangements in the mansion. Naruto was allowed to take the master bedroom as it was his home and Hikari refused to sleep in a different room so she was staying with him as well. Kurai and Akatsuchi were taking one guest room while Onoki and Kurotsuchi took he last one. The only room left was the room that had been prepped with the never used baby supplies for Naruto years ago and Deidara couldn't sleep there, not that it stopped Naruto from joking that he should, so the older blond was sleeping on the couch in the main room, but he didn't mind that too much. Before Hikari had been able to even try to get into Naruto's pants though, Kurotsuchi told the two flat out that they were going to be doing heavy training all month so they were forbidden from having sex since she argued it would wear them out before they could even get to the training. Naruto had accepted it reluctantly but Hikari was downright livid at the order and actually tried attacking the woman for blocking her from what she viewed as her right as the boy's girlfriend. The younger kunoichi had been put down fairly easily by the more experienced sensei before Onoki backed up her order and making Hikari comply, under noted extreme reluctance though.

The blond sighed as he let the chakra flow stop and pulled his hands back to see how far he had managed to get in the one large burst of his chakra. Seeing a hand length cut only four inches deep made him scowl as Onoki looked at it before grunting and floating off to see how the other two genin were doing since it was clear Naruto would be at this for a while. The whiskered jinchuriki rubbed his palms together as he took a deep breath and focused before slamming his palms against the pillar again and channeling his chakra. He was going to earn that jutsu if it was the last thing he did.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"How's it going sensei?" Sarutobi sighed but still managed to give his student a small smile as the man slipped into the room from his open window behind him. Said legendary ninja walked around his desk and stood in front of the Kage with his arms crossed and an easy smile on his face. Standing before him was a man with long spiky white hair, the extra held behind his back in a ponytail that went down to his lower back and rested slightly against the large scroll he carried there. Going down his face from his eyes were red lines while across his forehead was a horned headband with the kanji for 'oil' on it rather than the traditional Konoha symbol. He wore a red sleeveless haori over an olive green kimono top and pants while his feet were slipped comfortably into wooden geta sandals.

"Not very good Jiraiya." The Kage admitted before setting his pen down and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I will tell you in a moment but first please, let me know what you need to tell me so that you won't forget after I tell my news to you." Jiraiya raised a brow at that but nodded his head while taking a seat in the chair next to the Hokage's desk and started his report.

"Orochimaru is mobilizing for something. Whatever it is, it has major connections to that new village of Otogakure while I think Suna may even be involved since my spies have told me he's entered and exited the village on a couple occasions in the past few months. He also made a trip to Iwa but I don't have any spies there so all I could confirm was that he went in and left about an hour and a half later. If you recall I also told you he joined a group called Akatsuki for a while but then fled after an altercation with a member. Well now I know what Akatsuki are. They masquerade as a simple mercenary group comprised of powerful village less ninja but the truth is much deeper than that. Akatsuki in reality are all S-rank missing ninja with the secret goal to gather the nine biju for something. I don't know what yet but I'll let you know when I do since nothing good could ever come from gathering the nine demons." Jiraiya explained as Sarutobi took the information in with a nod. His last completely loyal student had been keeping tabs on things outside of the village for him, mostly on his traitorous student of Orochimaru, though other threats or oddities were noted as proven by him investigating Akatsuki.

"Thank you Jiraiya. Now I'm positive you wish to know what it is I have to tell you."

"Kind of. If it's big enough you think I'd ignore warning you of what I just did then it has to be pretty major." The man admitted as Hiruzen nodded.

"I have one piece of good news. However it is followed by so much bad that the good is a curse in disguise." He started making Jiraiya narrow his eyes. "I have found Naruto and he is in fact within the village this very moment." He stated as Jiraiya jumped to his feet.

"Really? Where the hell did you find him sensei? All my spy network has been able to get is rumors of a couple different spiky haired blonds all over the Elemental Nations! You know I stopped checking those after the eighteenth dead end." The man shouted as Sarutobi sighed again. When Jiraiya had first learned about what happened to his godson he had vowed to go to the village he was sent to and take him away and raise the boy himself outside of Konoha. However when he learned that they never got him and instead the boy was missing Jiraiya had devoted half his spy network to finding him. The thing was there were many blond haired and blue eyed children in the world, even adding in facial markings didn't lower the number down enough to viably locate Naruto. They couldn't use his name since they didn't know if whoever had him was using it so it wasn't really pragmatic to add it to the list of details to search him out with. Jiraiya had tracked down rumor after rumor for the first few years but hadn't found anything. The man had resented his sensei for the decision and it took the Hokage seven years to repair their relationship but eventually the Sannin had forgiven him.

"That's the problem Jiraiya and when you hear it, you'll see why finding Naruto is not good news at all." He warned as the white haired man scowled and wondered why finding his godson could be anything but good. "Around a little less than a month ago, Kakashi and his genin team encountered a team from Iwa on their mission to Nami no Kuni. The mission ended on a technically successful note but the team from Iwa swooped in the second they left to turn it into failure. After they did Kakashi confronted them and was given a warning; beware the snake and the prodigal son will return for what's his. Obviously the snake was a reference to Orochimaru, a reference you yourself just confirmed unknowingly. However 'prodigal son' was quite vague as many in Konoha could be argued to hold that title depending on your reasoning, you yourself could even due to being the last truly loyal member of the greatest three man team Konoha has ever produced." Jiraiya nodded his head in understanding as he knew that was true. It could've also been a shot at Uchiha Itachi for all they knew so he could see how Sarutobi wouldn't instantly know it was Naruto. "I then received a message from the Tsuchikage that he would be sending a single team to the Chunin Exams, of which we are currently in the thirty day period between the second phase and the finals."

"You don't mean to tell me he's been in Iwa do you sensei? That's impossible! They'd kill him on sight the second they saw him and knew who his parents were." Jiraiya cut in so Sarutobi shook his head.

"There were preliminary rounds due to far too many genin passing the second test so I've laid eyes on the Iwa team myself. One is a very highly skilled genin of little apparent importance, another is the heiress to the Hanamaru clan, however the third is named _Namikaze Naruto_. He also looks just like Minato did and before you suggest they're faking it let me ask you how Iwa would know to fake the facial markings the baby had?" Sarutobi asked as he opened up a drawer in his desk to pull out the file they had composed on the blond and handed it to Jiraiya. "His information checks out as the correct age and birth date, his looks obviously check out and he's extremely skilled. He defeated a taijutsu focused genin capable of opening the Gates using nothing but his own taijutsu in turn, limiting himself purposely because he craved a challenge. All three of Iwa's genin passed to the finals so I knew Onoki would be coming and sought to speak with the boy to confirm if it was him or not but they used political loopholes to avoid my attempt. Onoki arrived yesterday and instantly came to meet with me, bringing Naruto into the meeting."

"And?" Jiraiya asked as he set the folder down with a scowl, knowing there had to be more to the story his sensei was telling.

"And after getting a close look at the boy and talking with him I can confirm it's him. He knows of Kyuubi and from what I gathered appears to be on good terms with the demon. When I tried to play up his parents to convince the boy to defect Naruto shot me down, claiming Kyuubi told him all about them and then even shared some of what he was told so I know he wasn't lying nor was he lied too. Naruto also claimed Iwa gave him nothing but facts about Konoha and that it was the letter I wrote to explain who he was to the civilians I was sending him too that gave him his feelings of the village."

"You told me what was in that letter and depending on how you worded it that could be good or bad sensei." The Sannin stated as Hiruzen nodded his head with a look of regret on his face.

"He took it as an order of banishment. His exact wording to me was that I exiled him and then tried to hide his rightful heritage from him." Sarutobi admitted as Jiraiya sat back down.

"There was no way to get him to come back willingly was there?"

"One. He made one offer but the terms were too steep to accept." Jiraiya raised a brow as the Kage rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He only had three requests, two simple and one impossible. The simple requests were to claim his inheritance and have his heritage revealed to the village while he entered our forces as a jonin. The impossible one was for myself and everyone who called for his death that day were to be gathered together for him to kill by his own hand."

"That's most of the older generation of this village sensei… no wonder you couldn't take it." The man mused as his teacher nodded. If it had just been Hiruzen himself who had to pay for his crime against the boy Jiraiya knew the man would've taken it and only held off to name a successor first before submitting to Naruto's judgment. However, bringing in a good portion of the village wouldn't let him agree.

"He even offered to convince his Hanamaru teammate to abandon Iwa with him and Onoki mockingly added an alliance treaty to the deal but still I could not accept. Since I could not agree to his terms to make him join Konoha he instead demanded his inheritance and I was forced to hand it over. He and the rest of the Iwa ninja in Konoha currently; three jonin, three genin and the Tsuchikage, are all staying at Minato's mansion now." The man added as Jiraiya shook his head.

"I've gotta speak to him. Maybe I can convince him to abandon Iwa."

"I hope you do, otherwise I'll be forced to enact the only other option Konoha has left at this point."

"Which is?" Jiraiya asked with a scowl, knowing that killing the boy wasn't that option.

"After the Exams are over I plan on stepping down, regardless of whether Naruto is with us or not. I plan on going over the candidates and naming the Godaime before I retire once more." Sarutobi started making Jiraiya sigh but nod, understanding the man was getting on in his years. "If Naruto is not with us though then I will be leading a team of our very best to assassinate the Tsuchikage and his entourage on their way back to Iwa and kidnap Naruto where he will be forced to impregnate a child and then Kyuubi shall be ripped from him and placed in the newborn, with all of Minato's and Kushina's wealth and belongings going to that child. Naruto… Naruto will die when the demon is extracted and I'm sorry but it is the only way to keep Konoha safe." He finished quietly as Jiraiya stared at him in shock before narrowing his eyes.

"I won't let it come to that sensei. I'll get the boy back myself."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Excellent work Neji, Tenten. Your flames of youth will surely shine brightly for the Exam Finals!" Gai praised his two students as Lee wasn't there, doing laps around the village for his 'warm-up' while the sensei decided to focus on his other two students for the time it took. The two had just finished a few drills and were waiting for their next instructions. "Now Neji, your first opponent is the only genin from Oto and we saw he uses sound to attack the inner ear and sense of balance. My advice is to simply use some reinforced ear plugs and then rush him with your Jyuuken to disable his chakra before he can figure out a way around the plugs." Neji nodded as that was already what he had been planning to do and was more interested in his next match.

"I know Gai-sensei. It was simply fate the boy was matched with me. Such a weak offense will not be able to stand up to the might of the Byakugan." He boasted while Gai inwardly frowned at the teen's superiority complex. Nothing he had been doing was working to break it since he had yet to meet a match in his age group. With nothing else to say on the matter he turned to his kunoichi protégé with his advice for her.

"Tenten, you opponent uses the secret art of puppetry that Suna has mastered and treasures! My advice for your battle is to keep an eye on the puppet but get close to the puppeteer. That is the main weakness to puppeteers that I've yet to encounter an exception to, they are so focused on their puppet skills and construction, they lack skills for close combat. Though not as skilled as Neji or Lee in the art, your own taijutsu skills are quite youthful and I have no doubt you can overcome those of the Suna genin." He told her as she nodded with a slight smile. She knew she wasn't as good as Lee or Neji at the art, one had a clan completely focused on it and the other literally had nothing else to work on. If she could beat either of them in a straight taijutsu spar then something was wrong. However that's why she started focusing on weapons, so that she could provide ranged support to her close combat focused teammates.

"Thanks sensei."

"A word of caution though Tenten." Gai added in a serious tone. "Most, if not all, puppeteers add poisons to their weaponry and those of their puppets. Not only that but you never know what a puppet is capable of. Some have had saws while others have had kunai launchers and I even encountered one puppeteer who had a puppet meant to physically smash their opponents through making his reinforced puppet mimic taijutsu. He was quite the youthful match as well." The man added as he thought back to the encounter for a moment before pulling himself back to the present. "My point is that a puppet is similar to your sealing scrolls in that they can carry anything. Expect the unexpected and make sure to dodge everything it can do because the slightest scratch may become fatal. While frowned upon killing is allowed and I hope the Suna genin will only use non-fatal poisons if he uses them at all but there is no guarantee and Suna is known for being more brutal than Konoha." He warned as the girl nodded with narrowed eyes as she thought over a way to try and counter the puppet if she couldn't avoid it.

"Got it sensei. Avoid the puppet and aim for the puppeteer. But don't ignore the puppet either because that's the true threat." The man nodded with a smile as his student summarized his advice for her before he thought over the second round possibilities.

"For the second round, should you win you will be facing Uchiha Sasuke guaranteed." The man mused, starting with Tenten this time since her possible opponent was for sure only one option. "While I can't say anything about his personal skills, I know Kakashi will be pushing him extremely hard to be able to fight whoever he must and come out on top. I'd expect nothing less from my eternal rival after all!" He cheered while his genin rolled their eyes at the man. "However I do have some experience dealing with a Sharingan and the first and most important piece of advice I have for you is to avoid eye-contact at all costs. The Sharingan is capable of launching extremely high level genjutsu through the smallest glance and while I have trained the both of you in breaking free from the art, the split second it occurs may be enough in a battle. Especially if you find yourself having trouble breaking free of his illusion should he cast one, it would only grant him more time to attack you or set up traps for you."

"Hai sensei." Both chorused, Neji paying attention as well since he knew there was a chance he could face the Uchiha if they both made it to the final round.

"Now for you Neji, you will face either the young kunoichi from Suna or the possible relation to the Yondaime. I-"

"That boy is not related to Yondaime-sama sensei. It's inconceivable that the man had an heir when he was never even married. Not only that but if an heir existed then he or she would undoubtedly be a Konoha shinobi and not allied with our village's greatest enemy." Neji cut in as he scowled before scoffing. "Whether he wins his match against the girl or not, fate will not allow a liar and failure to defeat a prodigy from a powerful clan such as myself. He will lose and I will move on." The teen stated with certainty so Gai shook his head.

"I'm sorry Neji but it is actually possible. Kakashi was the Yondaime's student and I spoke with him the night after the preliminaries. He told me and the other jonin sensei that were present for that event that Yondaime-sama did in fact marry in secret and had a child that was born the same night as the Kyuubi attack. However due to reasons I cannot tell you, the child was sent away from the village for its own protection. It is quite possible Iwa discovered the child and took him back to their village to train against Konoha for a demoralizing weapon against us." Gai corrected as the two stared at him with shocked eyes. They glanced at each other for a moment before Tenten turned back and nervously started speaking.

"Sensei, we encountered him and that kunoichi girlfriend of his at a ramen stand a few days ago and spoke with him." She admitted as Gai narrowed his eyes to focus on the girl. "Neji confronted him about his claim to the Namikaze name and brought up how we've all been taught that he didn't have any relations. That made him freeze up before muttering something about being exiled and covering up his existence. He even said something along the lines of taking back the thought of giving mercy to Hokage-sama. When we asked why he could've possibly been exiled the guy said it was because he was a jinchuriki and most of the village wanted him dead." Gai's eyes went wide at the term so Tenten narrowed her eyes in confusion. "You know what it is don't you? We left before getting an explanation because Neji didn't want to eat near them since the 'lies' he was claiming made him mad. What's a jinchuriki and why would people want to kill a Kage's son for being one?" She asked as Gai sighed and shook his head.

"I am sorry Tenten, a jinchuriki is a very special type of person but saying any more than that is forbidden by an S-rank decree by Hokage-sama. The only reason he likely wasn't taken in was because as he's from a foreign village he has some diplomatic immunity so long as he obeys the laws and that is not a law we advertise. He also didn't go into detail about it so I believe that any watchers that he possibly had allowed it since as you know, all foreign shinobi are monitored by Anbu agents while within the village." The man explained as Neji scowled.

"If you cannot tell me what a jinchuriki is then answer me this; is it bad enough people would want to kill the child of a Kage for being one?" He growled and Gai looked reluctant before nodding.

"In most cases, yes it is Neji. In fact in most cases its far worse than simply wishing for them to die, Kage relation or not." He admitted before shaking his head. "Do not misunderstand me, the hate is irrational and wrong, and I do not condone it in any way, shape, or form. I am merely saying that to the general populace the term jinchuriki is synonymous with evil even though the jinchuriki themselves have never done anything wrong to earn such hatred."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright Naruto, take a break now." Onoki ordered as the boy nodded and stepped away from the second pillar, breathing somewhat heavily. Even his jinchuriki levels of chakra were getting pushed after a few hours of constant high level use. He had managed to break the first one an hour ago after three of trying to cut it with his chakra. After a small shout of his excitement the boy had only paused long enough to take a breath before rushing over to the next pillar and trying to cut it in half. His progress was faster than the first as he was already halfway through however he still had a ways to go before he could cut the pillar in one strong pulse of his wind chakra.

"So… how am I doing oji-sama?" Naruto asked as the man grunted before staring off back at the house.

"Why not ask the man who's been watching for the past half hour? You can come out now!" The Tsuchikage ordered as Naruto scowled while getting himself ready to attack should he need to. There was a shimmer in the air as the man let the jutsu fade to show Jiraiya walking up with a scowl on his face as he stared at Onoki. The Sannin stopped a fair distance away from the pair while his appearance got the attention of everyone else on the field and they all rushed to their Kage to be ready. "Stand down everyone. If he was hostile we'd have been fighting him off already." The oldest there ordered while the jonin reluctantly did as Kurai kept his guard up and Hikari stood next to Naruto. "So Jiraiya of the Sannin. What are you doing on my genin's property?" He asked as the white haired man scoffed and crossed his arms.

"I wanted to see if sensei was telling the truth about my godson. I have a key to this place since I was Minato's teacher and closest confidant so getting in without activating the sensory seals was simple enough." He explained before looking to Naruto and sighing with a shake of his head. "Kid looks almost just like his dad, that's for sure."

"Not going to try and deny it? Or ask why I'm with Iwa?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya shook his head.

"The fact the key didn't try to kill you when I set this places' defense seals on lockdown means you have to have the same blood as Minato so that's your heritage confirmation right there. As for why you're with Iwa, I don't really have to guess on that since it's obvious you hold loyalty to them for raising you. What I'm more concerned with is how they got you in the first place." The man admitted as Onoki scoffed.

"Pure chance to be honest, but you don't need to hear that story Sannin. What do you want?" The man demanded as Jiraiya scowled at him before glancing at Naruto and sighing. Turning back to Onoki the man uncrossed his arms before doing something none of them expected.

He bowed.

"I humbly ask that you allow me some time to speak with my godson alone Tsuchikage-sama. You have my word I will not do anything to him. I merely want to get to know the child I should've been the one to raise." The man requested as Onoki raised a brow at the act. Jiraiya was well known for being a headstrong and somewhat prideful individual. That he would bow like this to someone for something, an enemy leader no less, showed he was actually sincere in his desire to get to know Naruto. Glancing at the boy Onoki could see that Naruto was actually staring at Jiraiya in some interest himself so the man sighed and lowered himself to the ground.

"Feh, you get fifteen minutes Jiraiya. Kurotsuchi will also be watching from a distance to see if you try anything against Naruto. Do so, and you will die." The man told him as Jiraiya straightened himself and nodded. "Now I'm going to get some lunch. The rest of you are free to do as you wish or join me." He commented before he walked off. Deidara scowled at Jiraiya before following his Kage as it was his duty to be his bodyguard while they were in Konoha, Akatsuchi following for the same reason. Kurai stared at Jiraiya for a second before dispelling his scythe and walking away to do his own training while Kurotsuchi vanished in a Shunshin and appeared next to the house where she took a seat while keeping her narrowed eyes on the Sannin. The man let out a breath and looked to his godson to see that Hikari was leaning against him and didn't seem like she wanted to move.

"I'd like to speak with him alone please." The man repeated as the girl frowned and was going to say something but Naruto spun her around and kissed her passionately, making her forget what she wanted to say and instead focus on the blond she loved. Jiraiya's eyes went wide at the display while Naruto pulled back and rested his forehead against the girls.

"I'll be fine Hikari-chan. Kaa-chan is watching and I'm sure Jiraiya doesn't want to be dusted off by Oji-sama's jutsu either. Just go. I've been wanting to talk to Jiraiya ever since I found out he was my godfather from my parents' journals." The boy admitted so the girl frowned but sighed and relented.

"Fine. I guess I'll go with Tsuchikage-sama and get something to eat." She muttered as he pecked her on the lips again.

"Think you could bring me back some ramen?" He asked as she giggled and poked him in the chest.

"Noodle addict." She teased as she pulled back and walked off.

"Nympho!" Naruto called back as she shrugged and looked at him over her shoulders.

"I don't hear you complaining." The boy just laughed and turned his attention back to Jiraiya who had at some point pulled out a notepad and was writing something down at high speed while giggling with a huge grin on his face.

"What're you doing?"

"Never mind that." Jiraiya waved off before putting the notepad away and walking up to Naruto to place a hand on the boys' shoulder while smiling proudly. "Before anything else, I've gotta say I'm already proud you have a woman in you life that seems to love you dearly. Some free advice is to never let her go and do what you can to keep her safe and happy." The blond shrugged his shoulders while looking up to the taller man.

"I already planned on the first and the latter is awesome sex. What kind of man would I be if I turned that down?" The blond quipped while Jiraiya let out a laugh and chuckled perversely at the ideas that ran through his head.

"Oh the missed opportunities…"

"What?"

"Nothing, it's not important." The man diverted before sitting down on the ground and motioning for Naruto to do the same. With a simple raised brow Naruto joined him on the ground while Jiraiya let out a deep breath as he looked up to the clear sky. "You know…" He started as he gathered his thoughts of what he wanted to say. "I wasn't in the village when you were born and the attack happened. Meaning I wasn't here to stop sensei from sending you away either. Everyday, I wish I could turn back time to change that but wishing won't do anything Naruto." The man admitted before looking down at the boy. "I should've raised you from the beginning and while I won't apologize for not being there that day since I was doing important work for the village your father asked of me, I will apologize for never finding you to live up to my godfather status and take care of you. As things stand, unless you defect from Iwa to your birth village here then this will likely be the only good encounter we'll ever have."

"I know…" Naruto muttered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out two small books bound in brown leather and looked them over. "These are the journals my parents wrote. You're mentioned quite a bit in both, more my dad's but still quite a bit in hers too. It was even you that got dad to start writing the thing and then he got mom to start hers through your advice himself. So in a way, thanks to you I'll know my parents from more than just the stories Kyuubi can tell me of them. I can read through their lives and learn what they thought and believed. For that, thank you." The boy said as Jiraiya smiled.

"Not my intention but it looks like that was for the best." He admitted before sighing. "Naruto, I know you're angry at sensei, he told me of your 'offer' to join the village and I've got to ask; is that really the only way you'll join Konoha?" He asked and the blond sighed but shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I don't like how he couldn't take command of his own people. Not only that but I learned that my very existence and that of my jinchuriki status was hidden from the public. When I revealed I'm the Yondaime's kid, everyone couldn't believe it and I was called a liar and told the man never had a kid. So not only could your sensei not take control of his village like a real Kage would, he then covered up his mistake so that nobody would know. That… that kind of weakness is something I don't want in a leader." Naruto admitted as he scowled. "It really made me mad when I found out and then actually talking to the man as he tried to act as if it was all a mistake and use my parents as leverage to make me come back pissed me off even more. In my mind, someone like that needs to face the judgment of someone he's wronged and pay for his mistakes."

"I understand what you're getting at and while I don't like or agree with it, you are right that sensei was wrong." Jiraiya commented as he ran a hand through his hair. "If it was just him you wanted to kill then he actually would've agreed. He would've name a Godaime and issued out what orders need to be given for your other demands and then would've bowed down and let you do what you wanted." The Sannin told him as Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "It was the addition of the everyone else that forced him to refuse."

"What do you mean?" The blond asked as Jiraiya sighed again.

"Naruto, the people calling for your death that day was most of the older generation of civilians and a small portion of the shinobi. Sensei is the Hokage, it's his duty to do what is best for the village and the village isn't the buildings or the monuments. The village is the people. A home can be rebuilt so long as the people survive to do it. To keep the people safe, he had to refuse you. Even though you have every right to be angry and hateful to sensei, he couldn't submit himself to your, as you called it, judgment because you wanted to bring in the village."

"Well they wanted me dead for something that wasn't my fault! Hell, they didn't even care I was a Kage's kid or not or anything of the sort. They just saw me as Kyuubi!"

"I know and you're right again in that they were wrong. But does that mean they should die?" Jiraiya asked in response to Naruto's shouts. The boy was about to answer but Jiraiya held up a hand to stop him. "Let me ask you this. I hate Iwa with a passion for what they've done against Konoha. Now I'm not saying we're really any better, but the fact remains I hate the village for what they did. Does that mean I'm right in saying I should be able to dish out my own 'judgment' against them and kill everyone in the village? Whether I've ever actually had a negative encounter with them or not, should I be allowed to kill them because I hate them? Should they be allowed to kill me just because I hate them in return?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto paused to think for a second as the man clasped his hand on the younger males' shoulder again. "The answer is no Naruto. It's wrong and there is no justification for it. You're hate is only spreading more hate. It's only by looking past the hate that people can understand one another and get along."

The boy couldn't help but nod to the wise words his godfather was giving him. Technically he had already seen this in action somewhat with Hikari. Her entire clan hates him for his heritage. He had never personally done something to earn their ire but they still hated him for something out of his control and passed that hate down to their younger generation. Hikari though chose to look past it and get to know Naruto and now the two were in love with one another. But had she followed the blind hatred of her family, then they likely would've never bothered speaking or getting to know each other.

"So I guess you want me to forgive the village, right?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya nodded.

"I would. I want you to join Konoha for sure, but even if you don't I'd like for you to at least forgive them. Besides, not everyone in the village was against you that day or now even. An entire generation of the village wasn't even alive back then, is it fair to hate them for the mistakes of their parents?" Naruto shook his head as he thought over Jiraiya's words and sighed.

"But I don't want to leave the people I care about in Iwa. And I know they won't abandon the village they love either. Hikari-chan probably wouldn't care since she has major issues with her clan and just wants to stick with me but the rest would never leave and I would never leave them." Naruto told him as Jiraiya nodded. "As I said to the Hokage, I've got nothing against this village itself, just some of the people in it. But I love Iwa and its people. I mean, I grew up there, it's my home more than this village can be just because of that. This may be the village of my birth and the one my parents died to keep safe but I don't know anything about it but the barest facts. I don't feel any connection to it so why should I abandon my home for it?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya stayed silent, not having an answer. Naruto though wasn't going to take silence. He wanted the man to actually say something, mostly to give him something to argue against as he wasn't like how much sense Jiraiya was making. It was making him uncomfortable with how the man knew exactly what to say to erase his reasons against Konoha.

"I don't have an answer for that Naruto because your right. You don't have any connection to Konoha outside of your late parents. Their wishes for you though are not the laws you have to live by. They died so they couldn't raise you to mold you into the child they hoped for. Their journals that you have will tell you what they valued and what they hoped for and through those you can become what they wanted, but that still doesn't give you a connection to Konoha that would make you want to defect to it." The man admitted before letting out a sigh. "But you want to know something about Konoha? Then how about I tell you something every Konoha shinobi believes in. It's the belief that drives our village forward and through our hardships and struggles to remain strong and united."

"What is it?"

"The Will of Fire." Jiraiya told him as Naruto listened. "That's what the Shodai dubbed the belief and it's what guided Konoha since then. To us, our comrades are everything. It's by working together through our differences and helping one another that we can over come everything that stands in our way. Not only that but it creates the bonds that we'll come to cherish and fight to protect. By fighting with something you want to keep safe, you can draw on power unimaginable as you're not just fighting for you then. Your fighting for them as well. And their beliefs and cherished ones. The Will of Fire burns in the heart of everyone in Konoha and that's what makes us strong."

Naruto was silent as he thought it over. It was different from the Stone Will that drove Iwa. That said that people were like the rocks of the earth, hardy and strong. However we are also numerous and replaceable which is why we must do our best to shine and show the gem within to stand out. Iwa was a gathering of those gems as they shined together to do what was needed for survival. But if one gem should crack and break or go missing then another could take their place and keep the village shining.

It was extremely different actually.

On one hand you had united but replaceable while on the other was untied and irreplaceable.

It was this 'replaceable' mindset that drove Iwa shinobi to always fight until the end since they believed another 'gem' would step up to shine in their place. However to Konoha they fought together so that not even the smallest flame would go out but instead that all would fuel the one fire of the village.

"What should I do then?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya ruffled his hair lightly.

"That's up to you. It would make me and many others happy if you decided to stay in Konoha but that's your choice. I'm sure many others would be happy if you stayed in Iwa. As for you parents, while I know they would wish for you to be a part of their home, they would want you to pick the one that makes you happy. I knew both of them well enough to say that for certain. I'm pretty sure you'll reach the same conclusion after reading their lives too." The man explained before seeing the Tsuchikage coming out of the house as his fifteen minutes was up. With a sigh the man stood as Naruto got up next to him. "I just want you to promise me that no matter what you'll keep today in your head alright Naruto? Iwa or Konoha, just never forget it alright?"

"I won't Jiraiya." The boy promised as the Kage walked over to him and looked to Jiraiya.

"Thanks for letting me talk to my godson Tsuchikage-sama but I've gotta be going. Stuff to do and all. Make Naruto strong alright?" He quipped before leaving as Naruto watched him go with a small smile and Onoki turned to him with a raised brow.

"So, what did he want?"

"Just some advice and stuff to think about Oji-sama. Don't worry about it." The Kage grunted but let it drop, thinking it wasn't truly important and that he could find out later if it was. Naruto meanwhile just went back over to the pillars he had been using for training to get back to work, his godfather's words echoing in his mind.

**OMAKE - A Lucky Lucky Boy**

"I'd like to speak with him alone please." Jiraiya repeated as Hikari sighed.

"I just wanted to say something first and ask you for a favor." The girl admitted as Jiraiya quirked a brow up and motioned for her to spit it out. The girl turned to Naruto and kissed him before turning back to Jiraiya and pulled out a scroll and unsealing its contents. In a puff of smoke was a small pile of five books and suddenly she was holding them up to the man with stars in her eyes. "I am such a big fan of your writing Jiraiya-sama! I especially love the scene where the hero has his way with the desert princess after saving her kingdom! Please sign my books! And can I get a copy of the next one?" The girl fired off quickly as the man started giggling perversely while Naruto grabbed one of Hikari's books and look at it.

"Icha Icha? This is that porn series Oji-sama is always reading after he finishes his paperwork." Naruto commented as he looked through the book before freezing on a random page and reading a few paragraphs when his eyes widened. "Uh, I recognize that. We did that the night before we came here." Naruto muttered as he looked through further and found another scene. "Did that too." He quipped before flipping through the book while skimming the words. "And that. Loved that one. Tried it. That was fun. And did that one three times in a row." He listed before handing the book back to a blushing Hikari as Jiraiya was gaping at the blond. "You mean to tell me most of your little perverted 'experiments' we do are us just trying out various scenes of his porn?" The blond asked while the girl nodded.

"Got a problem with it?" She asked as he shook his head.

"Nope, I'm gonna start reading it when we go home for my own ideas." Suddenly he found himself grabbed by the shoulders by Jiraiya as the man had on a serious gaze and was staring at Naruto with a look of the utmost focus as well as pride.

It was completely at odds with the perverted blush and massive nosebleed he had.

"Naruto, my godson, it seems you have already learned of life's greatest joy and have found a woman who shares it with you. I have nothing to say to you except that you are one lucky, lucky boy." Naruto chuckled lightly as he pointed off to the side to get Jiraiya to see Kurotsuchi stomping up.

"Tell that to her." The Sannin looked at the woman, specifically her eyes before nodding his head in understanding.

"Mother figure huh? Doesn't like 'her boy' being corrupted to the more physically pleasing aspects of life I take it?" He asked as both Hikari and Naruto nodded. "I see. Well then, I shall see the two of you at another time." He told them before running off as Kurotsuchi broke out into a run and chased after him.

"Get back here pervert! It's your damn books that got the two of them started! I'll kill you!"

"I REGRET NOTHING!"


	21. Arc 3 Chapter 8

Yes! I am back my adoring fans! *Accepts trophy* I'd like to thank everyone who wished me well in winning back my typing ability, everyone who gave the reviews wishing pain and death on the one that originally broke me laptop... *Wipes away tear* This has been a long time coming. But now I have made my triumphant return to the various universes we all know as Fanfiction. And I can promise you this my loving fans; I will not be leaving again!

At least I hope not...

Anyways to explain why this took so long and how I got back, I had been saving some cash and when it looked like I may have been able to get a nice new laptop with my next paycheck, I instead got fired. Wasn't even my fault but that's not important. What is important was suddenly the money I had been saving for a laptop was being used for food while my bank account was being stripped bare for rent. I always keep some spare cash there in case of emergencies. (And I had been fighting the temptation to deem my laptop situation an emergency. Happily I resisted or this would've taken even longer.) But eventually I got a new job and even built my emergency reserve back up and started saving again. Then my buddy goes and gets a brand new laptop. One of the really fancy thousand dollar models he'd been saving for. And knowing my situation, as well as being a fan of this and my Rosario story, he donated his old one to me. It's an old '01 HP model that takes on average four minutes to load a single page of Fanfiction and it can't even run the online games I like to play but still. I can type and that's the part all of you likely care about the most. I can still go to my local library for my game fix anyways whenever I have the time so I don't even care really. I'm still saving for a new laptop, but now I can save slower and put out chapters again while I wait. So now that I'm back in business, its time to get to the review responses and then the chapter itself, which I hope you people didn't skip straight to. I have things to say damnit! And as long as you willingly read my stories you will all listen! I demand it!

Ahem... my ego has been flaring back up ever since I started typing again...

Anyways, as for review responses I guess there's something I really need to say before going into the individual ones. Naruto will **NOT **be joining Konoha or giving up his hatred of most of Konoha. I mentioned in the last chapter Jiraiya's talk with Naruto was going to change him somewhat but no matter what Naruto is not joining Konoha in this story. Many of you chose to ignore that little message and took their talk to mean Naruto's just going to forgive them all and join with open arms. He's not. Jiraiya's talk has made him question a few of the things he's believed in for most of his life. Reading his parent's journals is going to make him question more. But no matter what he will stay with Iwa and will still hold enough hatred against Konoha that he will never join them. He won't be charging in to destroy them as quickly anymore, but he'll never join. By the end of things he's going to be more apathetic to Konoha than anything, not caring if the village lives or dies at all so long as they don't start anything with him.

Alright then, now onto the individual responses.

**Rothwell:** He won't. Naruto doesn't really care about the world as a whole in the grand scheme of things. He only cares about himself and his loved ones. If the world is at peace, he's fine with it. If the world's at war, then so long as those he cares for aren't at risk he won't lift a finger for either side. Naruto's much more selfish than his canon counterpart in that he won't go out of his way to help others without some kind of compensation or reward.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Eight - **Fighting the Fear

"Thank you for letting me in. Is Sakura still in her room?" Ino asked as she walked into the Haruno household. Sakura's mother simply nodded so Ino excused herself and walked up the stairs to the room she remembered her friend staying in when they still played together as children. The blond paused at the door thinking for a moment about why she was coming over.

Sakura had been scarred by the Iwa kunoichi she had fought in the preliminaries despite giving the fight her best effort. In fact her best only pissed her opponent off as she had mocked Sakura and called her out on her failings before purposely giving her the scar mockingly as a gift, so that Sakura could fake being a 'true kunoichi'. Ino knew Sakura didn't train as hard as she should have, mostly because like Ino she was trying to use her looks to impress Sasuke. Ino's father didn't like that she did it but so long as she continued to keep up in her clan duties he was willing to let it slide. Sakura though wasn't part of a clan and her parents were more relaxed about her life choices overall though, meaning when Sakura took her attempts too far for what was smart for a ninja, they never bothered correcting her.

As such she had performed horribly, only even reaching that point due to her teammates and some of her own intelligence, which was really the only thing she had going for her at this point. Ino knew that now that she was scarred, her looks were forever changed. Some men found scars to be alluring but neither knew how Sasuke would take it. Plus while a small scar here or there could be overlooked or covered with make-up, some couldn't so it was likely Sakura wouldn't even be able to hide it no matter what.

Shaking her head clear of the thoughts, Ino raised a hand and lightly knocked on her old friends door. "Sakura? It's me Ino. Can I come in?" She called. The blond waited for a moment before hearing a reply.

"Go away Ino..." Sakura's voice seemed to mumble back through the door. Ino barely heard it though with how quiet the voice was. She almost thought she didn't before realizing that there was nobody else on the second floor of the house besides her and Sakura, even though they were seperated from each other by the door.

"Come on Sakura, please can I come in? Your mom's really worried about you. We all are really. You haven't been heard from or seen since you got back here from the doctors at the forest." Ino pleaded. In truth, Ino had been asked to come by her own mother after Sakura's had asked her to get her. She thought maybe one of her friends could bring her back out of the shell she had retreated into. While Ino and Sakura were currently more 'rivals' than 'friends', she felt that would be enough.

"...Fine..." Sakura's voice was again barely heard but this time Ino had been channeling chakra to her ears just to make sure she heard the girls' response. With a light smile knowing Sakura was accepting a friend Ino opened the door and walked in to find the pink haired girl sitting on her bed with her knees pulled to her chest and her face buried in them. As if to further distance herself from the world, Sakura was even sitting with her back towards the door and facing a wall.

"Oh Sakura..." Ino mumbled before walking over and sitting at the foot of the bed. "I heard you got a scar from whatever that chick did." She opened with as Sakura nodded with her head kept down. "Could I see? Maybe we can whip up some make up to hide it." She offered before waving a hand. "Or maybe to flair it up instead. Who knows, maybe Sasuke-kun likes scars and never said anything." Ino didn't really believe that but then again the boy had never shown any inclination towards a woman's appearance in any case. The one thing they knew was they remembered someone finding out he liked girls with long hair, which was why they both (along with ninety percent of the girls of their class) had grown theirs out.

"You can't. It's too ugly." Sakura whined, still keeping her head down so that Ino wouldn't see. The blond just shook her head.

"You just let me decide that okay Sakura? Now let me see." She waved her hand as she spoke as if it would help Sakura raise her head but it didn't. The girl kept her head down. "Sakura, unless you've super-glued that massive forehead of your to your knees, eventually people are going to see. You might as well get used to it now with a friend first." Ino commented, starting to get annoyed with Sakura's behavior. They were supposed to be ninjas meaning that while yes getting scarred was tragic to someone so young and fresh into their career, it wasn't the end of the world like she was portraying.

"No."

"You've got until the count of three before I use my jutsu to take control of you. Then I'll march you right over to that mirror on your dresser and _make _you show me." Ino threatened the girl. Sakura shook for a second so Ino sighed. "One..." She counted so Sakura just held up a hand.

"Just... just promise you won't make fun of me for it Ino." She asked and the blond could hear the tremble in Sakura's voice. She as really worried about this mark, just how bad was it?

"I promise Sakura, okay? I won't make fun of you or anything. Just please, show me." Sakura lowered her hand and turned on the bed so that she was facing Ino while still keeping her head down. Taking a deep breath the pink haired girl slowly raised her face so that Ino could see and the blond brought her hand to her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her gasp. "Oh Sakura... that's..."

"Horrible, I know." Starting from the upper right of her face and crossing down across her nose to her left cheek was a large and jagged red slash. The edges were frayed somewhat, likely from whatever it had been the Iwa girl had spit into the wound to ensure scarring. Ino instantly knew there was no way to hide such a large mark with make up, just as she had no idea how to even try and pretty it up.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do this." The girl told her. Sakura shook her head before setting it back down on her knees. "That Iwa kunoichi did. And you know the worst part about it? It's my own fault. I could've gave up when she grabbed me, or avoided fighting her in the first place. But I didn't because I wanted to try impressing Sasuke-kun since he hates that team. In fact, what the girl said was completely true even. I've spent so much time trying to impress Sasuke-kun that I never trained or worked on my skills. And he hasn't even bothered looking at me with a smile the entire time. I've been wasting my career for him and he hasn't cared in the slightest and I never bothered noticing. He even said the day we became a team he hates fangirls, but I had myself so deluded into thinking he wasn't talking about me. But that's just it; he was. Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei, everyone; it was so obvious to all of them that I had no right to be a ninja. No right to even think I was ready for the Chunin Exams, let alone even call myself a genin. But I did and we only made it through that forest because of Sasuke-kun and Sai. I was knocked out by a single punch when we had our first fight in there and then I couldn't do anything but worry over my injured teammates when I woke up." Sakura ranted, Ino staying silent. She could tell this was what her friend had really been secluding herself over rather than the scar she recieved. It was all because of her guilt at her own weakness.

"Sakura..."

"I'm just so weak Ino. I don't know anything more than the three jutsu taught at the Academy. My taijutsu form may be perfect in the eyes of the instructors but since I never train I don't have any strength to use with it so it's worthless. I'm the smartest in our class but that hasn't really helpped at all. Since I diet all the time to try and keep my figure, I don't have the energy to actually work during the team training and I always fall behind. Because I never tried to really be a ninja, I practically let that girl scar me." The blond looked at her friend sadly before Sakura raised her head up. "But not anymore."

"What do you..."

"After these Exams are over I'm going to take my training seriously. No more diets, no more whining about how tough it is, none of it. I'm not even going to try impressing Sasuke-kun anymore. I'm just going to train and get stronger. I'll become the best in whatever I work at until I'm world famous for my skill. And once I'm strong enough, I'll find that girl and make sure to thank her properly." She growled with narrowed eyes. "By giving her a mark to match mine." Ino looked shocked at how Sakura was acting. Where had this come from? Why had she been stuck in a depression before this if she was so focused on her drive?

"Sakura, what happened to you? First your moping about what happened and I have to threaten you to make you actually move and now you're all fired up and it's kind of scary Sakura. What's going on?"

"I... I was never really moping about my scar Ino." Sakura admitted. "I was a little scared at what you and everyone else would think when they see it but that was never really a problem for me. I mean, Iruka-sensei has a scar right? And it hasn't made him some ugly monster or anything either. It's just there and people accept it. Mine may be bigger and stand out some more but we're shinobi right? People will understand and won't make to much fuss about it." She explained as Ino nodded along. "I've just been thinking... about what to do with my life from here after what that girl said. And I had decided a couple days ago this is what I'm going to do. I just hadn't gotten around to telling anyone yet. I figured I could wait until when I went to watch the Finals and then I could tell everyone."

"Oh. Well next time don't wait so long. You had everyone really worried forhead." Ino joked at the end with a small smile. Sakura smiled back so the blond knew her friend would be fine. It was still surprising to hear Sakura going from depressed to driven in just a couple minutes though. "Anyways, have you been told about the Finals yet? Like who's in it and all?" She asked so Sakura shook her head. "Well, Sasuke-kun is in it. He even has a bye through the first round." Ino started telling her. "That girl you fought is facing Shino in the opening match while that kid who beat Sai is fighting that red head from Suna right after. Then comes that Oto guy covered in bandages against Neji Hyuuga. And then the girl from Suna is facing the other Iwa boy. There's something about him I've got to tell you about but I'll get back to it." She mentioned as she remembered Sakura had been taken out of the area after her match and as such she didn't know the controversy building around him. "The last match from the opening round is that Tenten girl going against the last guy from the Suna team. And then the winners go from there in that order with Sasuke-kun fighting the winner of the last match and then a three way fight between the winners of all the second round matches."

"Okay, so we'll cheer Sasuke-kun on when he finally fights and all the other Konoha genin on during the first round."

"Right." Ino nodded before heading back to the other subject. "Anyways, remember the Iwa boy with the hood up all the time?" She asked as Sakura shivered.

"I remember. He's a monster, just like his teammates."

"Well you aren't going to believe this. When his name was announced it was as _Namikaze _Naruto."

"Namikaze? Isn't that our Yondaime's name?" Sakura asked as she narrowed her eyes in cofusion. Ino nodded so Sakura shook her head. "But that's not possible. If he was related to our Yondaime then he'd have grown up here and be a Konoha ninja."

"I know right? When he went down for his fight he took off his hood and get this, he looks almost just like Yondaime-sama! Just round Yondaime-sama's eyes a little and add three little lines on each cheek and boom, twins!" Ino explained while Sakura was still skeptical. "And then his fight started and wow. He fought against that Rock Lee kid teamed with Tenten and Neji and completely dominated him. Lee apparently can only use taijutsu for some reason and Naruto decided to limit himself to taijutsu as well just to enjoy the match and it was... just wow. They were moving so fast and the attacks were so strong before suddenly that Lee kid took off some weights he was wearing and then suddenly I couldn't even see them move anymore! None of the genin could! Next thing we knew Lee was slammed into a wall and Naruto appeared and tossed him back to the center of the stage before bouncing himself off the roof to slam him into the ground. Then Lee tried to use some kind of kinjutsu from what I understand but Naruto beat him down and threatened to kill him if he didn't quit. But Lee refused and was about to die before his sensei appeared and smacked Naruto off him. Obviously Lee lost and Naruto moved on but still... That was him holding back Sakura. Imagine what he can do when he adds his jutsu in."

"I'm still trying to figure out how he could possibly be related to Yondaime-sama Ino. I already knew he was strong considering he was willing to fight Kakashi-sensei, a jonin, if he had to when we first crossed paths outside of Nami no Kuni." Sakura told her with a flippant wave of a hand. "Did you ask your sensei about him?"

"Yeah, the next day when he gathered us together to let us know we can have the month off so long as we make sure to do some basic training to keep our skills up. He said he spoke with your sensei and that there's a slim chance it might actualy be true but that we shouldn't worry about it and that others are looking into it, including his dad, Sandaime-sama." Ino told her before an idea came to her. "You know, I could use my clan jutsu to show you my memories of the fight and talk with Asuma-sensei if you want. I mean, I know from my dad that your sensei Kakashi took Sasuke-kun out of the village to train him so you can't ask him about it. Want me to?" She offered as Sakura thought it over when something clicked from her memories.

_"Beware the snake and the prodigal son will return for what's his."_

The Iwa boy's warning from when they split after escorting them out of the country. Sakura remembered mostly being scared out of her mind at the time so she was barely listening but she did catch that much. She just hadn't given it any thought since she was more worried about Sasuke and staying alive at the time, as well as mourning what they had condemned Nami to. But now that the boy had revealed himself and what he was claiming it snapped into place. _'He was talking about himself. If he really is related to the Yondaime then he must be talking about whatever Yondaime-sama had left behind after his death against the Kyuubi. I only hope there's nothing Iwa could use against us if it is true.'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright team, tomorrow is the Exam Finals. We've done what we could and now it comes down to you three. So make sure to do Iwa proud, ya got it?" Kurotsuchi asked as her genin were lined up in a row in front of her while Onoki, Akatsuchi, and Deidara were standing off to the side.

"No sweat Kaa-chan. We're gonna sweep the whole thing." Naruto bragged with one arm wrapped around Hikari and Kurai standing on his opposite side. Hikari was smiling while Kurai had his normal stoic look as the blond boy grinned. "There's no way we can lose." Kurotsuchi smirked before glancing at her grandfather so he nodded and floated over with his guards following.

"Well that's good, because I've spoke with Orochimaru the night of your meeting with Jiraiya and have informed him of what Iwa shall be doing during his invasion plan." Onoki began. "The Invasion itself will start at the conclusion of the Uchiha's match so there will be plenty of time for you three to show off our village's might. Orochimaru himself also assured me that so long as you, Kurai, do not injure your jinchuriki opponent enough to prevent him from fighting afterwards then we won't be changing anything already planned. Apparently when the signal is given, Gaara is going to unleash his biju on the village to cause mayhem and havoc all over while the Sannin will summon a few of his own snakes to add to the confusion. Meanwhile he will be dealing with the Hokage and the various Suna and Oto ninja arriving in disguise as spectators will begin attacking people throughout the village. I have decided to add the seven of us to the force of the Invasion. You, Naruto, are to do just as Gaara is and attack the village while under Kyuubi's power. Hikari, Kurai; the two of you will stay close to Kurotsuchi and help deal with enemy ninja. Deidara will be flying above and using his bombs to attack while Akatsuchi will be using his golems in the village to destroy what he can. I will be making sure Orochimaru's fight isn't interrupted by anyone, including the Sannin Jiraiya, who Orochimaru was surprised to learn was within the village." Onoki explained as his shinobi grinned, save for Kurai's emotionless self and surprisingly Naruto. The blond had only nodded his understanding with a serious look but his grin had fallen when he learned they would be aiding the Invasion, something Onoki noticed. It seemed Jiraiya's talk with the boy had affected him more than they had realized. "Naruto? Is there something wrong? Some reason you feel you won't be able to fufill your orders?"

"Ah... No Oji-sama. I'm just thinking." He replied as even Hikari and Kurotsuchi now turned confused faces on him. "I've got no problem destroying Konoha really. Even with that talk I had with Jiraiya, I still want to kill off most of this place for what they did to me. And you know I follow my orders, so that's not a problem."

"Then what is it Naru-kun?" Hikari asked as she pulled away to get a clear look at him. "Come on, you've been acting a bit wierd ever since you spoke to your godfather." Naruto only hung his head without denying the claim as he had been different since the talk. Mostly he'd been more prone to getting lost in thought when he wasn't training, eating or flirting with her. He'd also been reading his parents' journals more than before.

"I'm just not sure we're ready for this I guess." Naruto admitted. "I mean, there's only seven of us. Sure Oji-sama is a Kage and three are jonin. And yeah, I'm jinchuriki to the strongest biju and Kurai's immortal but still. I'm just worrying about whether we have enough or not. As it is we're really depending a lot on Oto and Suna to carry this plan off. Suna is betraying their peace accord with Konoha so how can we trust them not to act on their own resentment against Iwa? And Oto is run by Orochimaru, who knows what secret agendas that guys given his men? It's a lot you know? Maybe we should hold off and go home when the fighting starts to build our own forces up to strike at Konoha afterwards. I mean, even if they can repel both Suna and Oto, they'll still be weakened from doing so right?" He explained, making the older ones stare at him wide eyed.

"You really have been thinking about this, haven't you Naruto-kun?" Kurotsuchi commented as he nodded in return. "You bring up some good points but in the end, Tsuchikage-sama has gone over all of this himself earlier and decided it was worth the risk. This is likely the best chance we'll get to take out Konoha and while a lot of Iwa won't be able to participate like they'll wish, we're just going to have to make this work." Naruto nodded again as Onoki still stared at Naruto in thought as he floated at eye level with the boy.

_'I doubt that's all he's been worried about. That damn Sannin said something that's changed the boy. He claims he's still loyal but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him either.'_ Lowering himself to the ground Onoki grunted to draw attention back to him. "The three of you have done good work this month preparing for tomorrow. I expect nothing but the best when it comes to your matches. Remember your training, your village, and your goals. Many can be reached tomorrow with the fall of Konoha and success in the Chunin Exams." The three genin nodded so he grunted again before walking away, back into the Namikaze Estate they were all staying in. The others followed as well though Naruto headed up to the master bedroom he had taken, Hikari following a moment later.

Most of the things in the Estate had been stripped down and sealed into storage scrolls to carry back to Iwa after the Exams. What was left were the things Naruto didn't want and Onoki felt Iwa didn't need. Earlier in the day the pair had also gone and cleaned out the Uzumaki and Namikaze bank accounts of everything as well. Naruto had also made a trip to the Uzumaki mansion near the outskirts of the village but as that was placed there as part of the treaty between the Uzumaki and the Senju rather than belonging to any specific Uzumaki, Naruto couldn't take much more than a couple scrolls and items that were meant for clan members only.

Inside the master bedroom, almost all the pictures of Naruto's parents were gone, having been sealed up by Naruto with his parents journals and a few of their technique scrolls. The only one he didn't seal had been the picture of his pregnant mother with his father standing behind her. It still sat in its frame on the nightstand next to the bed. Dropping down onto the bed Naruto grabbed the picture and stared at it, like he had been during the past month since talking to Jiraiya.

_'Would you two approve of me killing off the place you loved? Destroying the home you died for? What would you think of me as well? Would you be proud of me? Or would you hate me for the choices I've made?' _The blond sighed as he kept his eyes on the smiling faces of his parents. He had been asking himself the same questions and reading his parents journals in the hopes of an answer but had yet to find an answer. It ws clear his parents loved the village, and each other, with every fiber of their being. Had they known what Konoha had done to Naruto after they died, would they still love the village and be against Naruto wishing to destroy it? Or would they have approved of his choice and rallied behind him?

"Naru-kun? Are you okay?" Hikari called as she poked her head into the room. Seeing Naruto lying on the bed staring at his parents again the girl walked in, closing the door behind her. Without a word she lied down on the bed next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"I'm fine Hikari-chan. Just... wondering." The girl nodded into his shoulder while raising one hand up and idly running it across his chest under his shirt.

"You've been doing that a lot lately. Any reason why?"

"It's just that I wonder what they'd think of me. I already thought about how different my life could've been had they lived or had I been kept here in Konoha but ever since Jiraiya..." Naruto trailed off as Hikari raised her eyes up to his. "I wonder if they'd be proud of me or not. What they'd think of you or Kurai, or Kaa-chan and Dei-nii-san and Aka-nii-chan. Would they be alright with me being with Iwa? Or would they have preffered I'd love Konoha, even after what this village did to me."

"Does it matter what they'd think of you? They're gone Naru-kun. No amount of wishful thinking and 'what if' talk is going to change that." Naruto sighed and set the picture down on the nightstand before wrapping his arms around Hikari, making the girl smile slightly and snuggle herself deeper into his side.

"I know that. It's just, I never really realized it until coming here but in the back of my head I'd been worried about what they'd think of me. Whether or not they'd approve of me." He tilted his head down to stare into his lovers eyes as he gave her a gentle squeeze in his arms. "You don't really care what your family thinks of you since you're already something of a black sheep among them by being an heiress in a male-oriented clan. As long as they don't do anything to you or the people you do actually care about, you could care less whether they approve of you or not. This is different though." The blond explained and Hikari shook her head.

"It may be different but that doesn't mean I don't understand or anything. You want their approval because you're unsure if you've done the right thing. You want their approval in the hopes that they can guide you or tell you what you should do. I remember being like that with my grandmother when she was alive. She was the only person in the family that actually nutured and raised me. My father was always worrying about not having a son and training me. My uncle and cousin want to see me fall and go out of their way to try and embarrass or put me down. My mom died after giving birth to me and the rest of the clan isn't really close to me because they either hate my status or are intimidated by it. Only baa-chan got close and would tell me she loved me or if she was proud of me. When I was younger I wouldn't look to my father for his approval or guidance, I'd go to her. She's the one who helpped me." Hikari explained as Naruto started idly rubbing her lower back with a hand just as she was doing with her hand on his chest. "You're looking for the same thing Naru-kun. Sensei and Tsuchikage-sama may have raised you and trained you but they were never your parents. They love you yes, and may have adopted you into their family even but it's not the same as the approval from someone you know would love you unconditionally like you know your parents did, even if you never really met them. It's just obvious that from what you do know and what you've learned about them that they loved you without reserve ever since you were concieved. They didn't even have to meet you to care for you. That's the kind of love they had for you. That's why you want their approval so badly. Because you're worried you may be doing something that would've changed that."

Naruto listened to the girl with a small smile on his face as she spoke. He knew she was right. He knew it because that was exactly how he had been feeling. The blond pulled Hikari ontop of his body as he leaned up and kissed her, doing his best to pour in all his love and passion for her as she smiled and returned the gesture. This was why he had fallen for her. Not because of her looks (which were beautiful), not because of her skills (which were great), not even because of the sex (which he couldn't get enough of with her). It was because of this, how understanding she was. She had seen past her families and the villages hate of him and came to know the boy behind the shadow of his father. She knew just what to say to clear things up for him or to cheer him up if he was down.

"You know..." Hikari started as they pulled back from their kiss and caught their breath. "There's someone else that loves you unconditionally." Naruto smiled and raised a hand to cup her face.

"Yeah, I'm looking at her." Hikari smiled as he pulled her back down to kiss her lips before pulling his lips back so that their foreheads were still touching. "And I love you too Hikari-chan. And nothings ever going to change that."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day saw many things happening all across the village. Venders and tradesmen were opening up their shops bright and early to attract the foreign visitors arriving for the Chunin Exams. Ninja patrols were increased to everywhere to make sure the law was followed. And hundreds of spectators, from royal, shinobi and civilian background, all came to the village to witness the next generation of ninja showcase their strength.

Inside Konoha's arena the stands were filling with those who had purchased tickets to the event while down in the arena the actual competitors awaited their battles. Hikari was leaning back against Naruto as the two were making small talk with Kurai next to them. Standing a few feet away was Gaara, the boy being silent while occasionally glancing at Naruto when the blond called out a question to his fellow jinchuriki. Temari and Kankuro were watching Gaara and Naruto intereact with a small bit of wonder and a large amount of fear. They knew the two had spoken during the month break and whatever Naruto had said to Gaara had an effect. He hadn't threatened them at all but the general feeling of murder never went away either. Plus after his display in the preliminaries, the two were terrified at what would happen if the whiskered boy got mad. Finishing up the list of competitors were the Konoha ninja and Dosu, the lone Oto genin left. Dosu was listening in on both the minor convesation the Iwa genin were having as well as whatever the people in the stands were talking about. It was a minor annoyance to him that from what he could hear nobody believed he could win. But he could wait until his match to prove them wrong. Neji and Tenten were standing patiently waiting for their fights to start, occasionally glancing in Naruto's direction trying to figure out if his claim to the Namikaze name was true or not, as was Shino a couple feet away. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

Standing in front of all of them, waiting with a half-lidded gaze was a brown haired man with his headband as a bandanna tied on his head backwards and a senbon between his teeth. He wore the standard outfit of a Konoha jonin with a long sleeved blue shirt and pants and a green vest with a red spiral on the back. While he kept one eye on the genin to make sure nothing started prematurely, the other was kept on the Kage's booth, waiting for the signal from the Hokage to begin the tournament.

Up in the Kage booth itself sat Sarutobi along with two jonin guards. His thoughts were on his talk with Jiraiya after the man had come back from speaking with Naruto. After a single conversation Jiraiya was claiming him to be an angry but reasonable and level-headed young man with from what he could tell, a somewhat mischivious side and a high amount of loyalty to those he cared for. He also told the aged man that had he tried talking to Naruto as if he were wanting to get to know him rather than get something from him, he likely would've been better recieved as he was. In hindsight Jiraiya was right but at the same time as Hokage, Hiruzen couldn't afford such pleseantries at the time, nor could he afford them now still. By the time these Exams were over Naruto would have to willingly come to Konoha otherwise he was going to be forced to take unreasonable measures that very likely could and would start a Fourth Shinobi War.

The Hokage was drawn from his thoughts as three more people came up to the booth. One was Onoki himself, his Kage hat on his head and two jonin guards at his back. Taking the seat on Sarutobi's right Onoki stayed silent but looking down at the arena he smirked seeing his genin. "Heh, I'm going to enjoy today, for many reasons." Sarutobi nodded his understanding, thinking Onoki was only referring to watching his genin fight and not knowing about the other plans as the attention of both Kages was drawn to the booth entrance as another entered. Wearing a white robe that covered his body as well as a blue Kage hat and a veil that covered everything on his face other than his eyes was the Kazekage. His two guards keeping position behind him the man took the seat on Sarutobi's left and nodded a greetings to his fellow Kage.

"Hokage-dono, Tsuchikage-dono. A pleasure to see you both."

"It's a pleasure to see you as well Kazekage-dono. How was your trip through the desert?" Sarutobi asked as the man shrugged.

"As well as could be expected. But perhaps it's for the best that the Exams were held here this time? You are getting quite old Hokage-dono. Perhaps it's time for a Godaime?"

"You do realize I am a couple years older than Sarutobi, don't you Kazekage-dono? Calling him too old for the job is saying the same to me. And I made the trip just fine." Onoki interjected with a grunt.

"My apologies Tsuchikage-dono. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Feh. It doesn't matter. Let's just get these Exams started." The Kazekage nodded so Sarutobi stood up and walked towards the railing.

"So be it." He muttered before lifting his voice so that everyone could hear it. "Welcome one and all to the Finals of the bi-annual Chunin Selection Exams. Before you are the twelve finalists who have risked everything to come to his point and show just why they are deserving of promotion. Now, may all of you enjoy the battles to come and stay to the very end. I now declare this tournament begun!" He called, to the many cheers of the spectators as he sat back down.

"Perhaps I'm missing something but I only count eleven genin Hokage-dono. Aren't we missing one?" The Kazekage asked as Onoki and Sarutobi both narrowed their eyes, though for different reasons around the same missing genin.

"Yes, one Uchiha Sasuke. However he has a bye through the first round and his match is the last of the second. There's plenty of time left for him to arrive." Sarutobi commented but Onoki scoffed.

"Maybe, that depends on how fast the matches are. And I don't know about either of your village's genin but I know mine will dominate theirs." He bragged before tiliting his head to the side. "Or rather two of them will. I'm not entirely sure Kurai will be able to breeze through his opponent like his teammates will to their own. A jinchuriki is nothing to take lightly, no matter the rank." Both Kage's had narrowed eyes and the small dismissal of their genin but nodded their heads in agreement with the last statement. Jinchuriki were feared for a reason after all.

Down on the arena floor the jonin seemed to snap to attention after the Hokage had spoken and the crowds cheers died down. "Alright listen up. My name is Shirunai Genma and I'm the proctor for the finals here. The arena may be different but the rules are exactly the same as before; you fight until one of you gives up, gets knocked out or killed. If I feel a match is decided then I'll intervene but otherwise this is anything goes one-on-one fighting. Now, everyone but Hanamaru Hikari and Aburame Shino is to head up to the waiting area so that we can begin." He explained as the genin nodded. Naruto gave Hikari a kiss before following the rest of the genin up to the specially prepared area for them to watch and wait for their own matches. Hikari however didn't watch him leave but instead turned towards her opponent.

"I remember you, we stole both your scrolls in the forest without even having to fight. You three were terrified of us." She commented as Shino stood silent with his hands in his pockets. Hikari raised and eyebrow before shrugging. "You can play the silent game all you like. Kurai does it all the time so it doesn't bother me. Anyways, I'd advise giving up, because if you don't then I will fight to kill. Just a fair warning."

"Like you warned Sakura-san before scarring her for life? I thank you for the advice but will not be taking it. I shall give this battle my all in the hopes of defeating you and being promoted to chunin. My friends have also asked me to make sure you are hurt extremely for what you did to our classmate." Shino monotoned before tilting his head slightly. "Just a fair warning." He echoed, making Hikari smirk and bend her knees slightly in preparation to fight.

"Well if that's how you want it bug boy, I'll make sure it's interesting." Looking from genin to genin Genma nodded before jumping back.

"Hanamaru Hikari of Iwa versus Aburame Shino of Konoha; hajime!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**Authors Note: **Well, that's finished and next chapter begins the Finals themselves. So look forward to that one everybody. Anyways, I'm also updating my Kurai Kitsune story here as this and that are my two biggest. And I'm also putting out the prologue to a brand new story called _Inifinite Stars_, a Naruto/Star Wars crossover in which our blond hero is a Sith Lord and our dark Avenger is a Jedi Knight. If that sounds like something you may like then check it out.

So anyways, please review and favorite as I am back and hopefully it's to last.

PS: The Hiatus Notice chapters will be taken down in about a week.


	22. Arc 3 Chapter 9

**Kid Buu 619:** Read and find out because the Finals start this chapter.

**KnightOfZaku: **Jiraiya will end up having another couple conversations with Naruto, one peaceful and one that leads into a fight, but they're far off. As it is, the two won't meet again until a couple years later. And I've already confirmed that one of the Eleven will die by Naruto's hand in my Review Replies ages ago.

* * *

><p><span>Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror<span>

**Chapter Nine -** Fall in Terror

"Man, Hikari-chan has got this in the bag." Naruto bragged as he stepped over to the railing of the waiting area and leaned down on it to watch his teammate/lover fight the Konoha genin. Kurai stood next to him while further spread down the against the railing were the other genin. "That Aburame doesn't stand a chance."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Shino is considered a prodigy among his clan and is fated to go far. Your teammate will have to work fast if she wishes to defeat him before he can finish her." Neji interjected as Naruto glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes before snorting and facing him.

"Normally, I'd bet you'd be right. But Hikari-chan spent all month working mostly on one single jutsu. One jutsu that will render her completely immune to the Aburame's little bugs. And without their insects to fight for them, that clan is pretty much screwed." He taunted as he turned back to the arena. Neji and Tenten narrowed their eyes in confusion, wondering just how she could negate the chakra devouring kikachu of the Aburame as Kurai spoke up in his dull monotone.

"Hikari is a prodigy in her clan as well, in addition to being heiress. Even had she not perfected that jutsu, this match was decided the moment it was made. She will not lose."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Hanamaru Hikari of Iwa versus Aburame Shino of Konoha; hajime!" Genma called out before jumping back as the fight began. Deciding to make the first move Hikari charged in while Shino pulled his hands out of his pockets, showing each was holding a kunai. Smirking the heiress flicked her wrists to extend the small blades hidden in her guantlets before spinning into a left stab which Shino parried with his right. Without wasting motion Hikari brought up her right to stab him in the gut but Shino blocked it with the kunai in his other hand. Before the girl could continue her assualt Shino attempted his own by raising his knee to ram her in the stomach but was blocked as she used her own knee to block him. Pushing back the two separated to get some distance and try again as above the crowd cheered at getting a good fight right from the get go.

Not letting Hikari charge back in again, Shino whipped his hands forward, throwing the kunai he was holding at her. The girl parried them with her guantlets before leaping back again as a swarm of black had followed the weapons. Knowing she was through if the insects got a hold of her she retreated a small distance before stopping with a smirk on her face. "Okay, so you've got some fight in you. But you still can't win."

"Judging how you avoided my insects, I can logically assume you know your defeat is assured if they can get you. So how is it you are so assured I cannot win?" He asked in reply as his kikachu swarmed around him. Hikari only held up a finger.

"Because I have a jutsu that would kill all your bugs instantly." She admitted. "I just figured that if you won't give up then I should have some fun before I finally kill you. Give the crowd a good show and all, you know?" Shino was silent as he took in her words before raising his hands in preparation to direct his hive.

"I do not believe you. Why? Because prolonging the fight simply for entertainment value is illogical when you would need to convserve your chakra for the next round." Hikari only kept up her smirk, knowing that he would normally be right but he didn't know that she was going to forfeit no matter who she was pitted against in the next round. She'd sparred enough with Kurai to know she couldn't beat him, ever, due to his immortality giving him immunity to her heavy jutsu which she'd have to rely on to bring him down. And the other option was a jinchuriki with unknown skills and abilities. Again she would have to rely on her heavy jutsu, but since the Invasion plan required him to be unharmed (at least enough to still due his part) she couldn't bring those jutsu against him. It was a guarenteed lose-lose for her so she wasn't even going to try. Hence why she could drag this fight out for hours on end and be perfectly fine with it.

"Heh, well then by all means bug boy, bring it." Hikari taunted as he thrusted his hands forward. The swarm responded to the command and flew forward as Hikari merely ran through a few hand seals. "Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hidden Mole Technique)!" She called out before falling back and sinking into the ground with a small ripple as if it were water. The insects collided with the ground she had just been standing on before retreating to Shino as he narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses.

_'Hiding underground is clever as my insects cannot follow you.'_ He thought as he directed his swarm to spread out over the battlefield in preparation for her next move. _'However as you are an Iwa kunoichi, I logically knew you may do so and thus prepared for it from the beginning.'_ With a command to his kikachu, the insects began to lower themselves to the ground before gathering at a specific point that would move every couple seconds. _'An Aburame does not fight close, ever. Our taijutsu in nearly non-existant as we need to keep our bodies healthy for our internal hives. And so I logically knew you would never suspect a trap when I did the unexpected and confronted you up close during your charge. I knew I'd likely never defeat you in that manner, it was only to keep your attention on me and not on the female I placed on you during the exhange. My kikachu may not be able to follow you into the ground but they can follow your movements due to the pheramones she releases for the rest of my hive.'_ Reaching into his pouch Shino pulled out another kunai, this one having an explosive tag already tied to the ring on its handle. With another mental command the heir had his kikachu fly away as he tossed the kunai directly where they had been and and detonated the tag a second later.

The resulting explosion tossed chunks of the earth all across the arena as his kikachu regrouped around him. When the dust began to settle he sent his insects forward to search the wreckage for any trace of Hikari. The bugs obeyed and flew into the dust cloud that was still dissipating when suddenly he had a blade in his back. "H-how?"

"You didn't really think that would work did you?" Hikari asked from behind him, still holding the smirk she had since their first clash. "Just because I'm underground doesn't mean I can't see what's going on up top. All Iwa shinobi are taught that jutsu and how to see through the ground with other senses. When your bugs all gathered right above me I knew what it meant. Somehow you placed a lock on me. Since I knew a smart ninja would then try to attack me I waited until the kunai hit the ground to use a simple Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to dodge. You wouldn't notice since your bugs left the area. And then to prevent them from tracking me again instantly I flared the jutsu I mentioned earlier really quick. Your whole clan is bug related, whatever trace you put on me had to be a bug which died instantly. And then simply waiting for you was no problem. The Hanamaru are assassination experts, stealth kills are our forte." She bragged before Shino turned his head back over his shoulder to look at her.

"I... see..." He gasped out before desolving into a swarm of black beetles that instantly tried to engulf her among them. Cursing the heiress leapt back and kept leaping back as the swarm followed her. From within the finally settling dust cloud Shino walked out completely unharmed. "I too waited for the correct opprotunity. A simple replacement with a Mushi Bunshin (Insect Clone) the moment my insects detected a chakra signature behind me and I was left unharmed. And now we have returned to you dodging my insects that you claim you can kill instantly." The boy stated as Hikari growled before running through some more signs.

"Fine you little bastard. You don't believe me then watch!" She shouted before taking a deep breath and then blowing on the bugs following her. The cloud of beetles showed no effect for a second before many began to drop out of the air and stagger on the ground for a few seconds more before they stopped moving entirely. Shino's eyes widened behind his sunglasses as he recalled the survivors of her attack and checked them over while she stopped and brought her smirk back. "You like it bug boy?"

"What was that? It appeared as though you simply breathed on them and they began to fall." He asked as she spread her arms wide.

"Do you remember what I did when I cut the wealking in the preliminaries?" She asked as Shino nodded.

"You spit in the open wound and it began to steam, causing Sakura-san more pain. I recall hearing her sensei mention the medics claimed you used some type of poison."

"Would you believe me if I said that was really just my spit?" She asked getting him to tilt his head. "The Hanamaru are assassination experts, that's common knowledge everywhere. But we have another ability that few actually know about. A Kekkei Genkai." She told him as she gestured to herself. "We can control the chemical make-up of our bodies however we wish. All our blood, sweat, tears, even breath, can be changed from their normal composition into whatever we want. I simply made my spit acidic when I scarred that weakling and just now I made my breath as potent as a can of bug spray." Hikari joked as she flicked her wrist and the blade came out of her right guantlet. She held it up to her face as if checking it over while she threw a question to Shino. "Tell me, if we can do that then when added to our assassination skills, just what would our bloodline be used for?"

The Aburame was silent for a moment. "...Poison."

"We call it Dokueki Shigai (Venom Body). We are the top poison masters of the world because it's impossible to make an antidote to any of our creations without a sample of our blood at the exact moment we poisoned our target. Plus we're immune to any other poison because we'll just manipulate our blood to create an antidote on instinct alone. In fact, that's a rite of passage in our clan." Hikari closed her eyes as she lowered her hand and retracted the blade. "Everyone born into the clan has the bloodline and we make sure of it. At the age of four our parents will use their own blood to make a poison meant to kill their own children. And we're told to drink it and survive. Those of us with the bloodline will instinctively make an antidote and survive, with nothing more than a little flu at the worst. The rest die. The Hanamaru clan doesn't tolerate weakness."

The crowd was stunned into silence at this. They killed off their own kids if they didn't have the families' Kekkei Genkai? The civilians and non-clan ninja were apalled at the fact while the clan ninja thought it somewhat barbaric but understood the need to keep the family strong. A few of them had dark pratices they weren't particulary proud of as well. In the waiting area for the other genin Neji personally was shaking as he glared down at the girl. She sounded so accepting of the deadly practice and it only reminded him of the barbaric seal hidden on his forehead by his headband. The Hyuuga were divided into two, a Main House and a Branch House, the latter being what Neji was a part of. The Main house placed a seal on the forehead of every Branch member at the age of four, forcibly making them servants of the Main for the rest of their lives. To hear that the Hanamaru had a dark practice of their own that she willingly accepted enraged him. He was barely holding himself back from taking out his anger on the Iwa genin next to him or going down to the arena floor to attack her.

"I hate that little story." Naruto muttered as he stared at Hikari with narrowed eyes. The sexism of the Hanamaru wasn't the only thing he despised about her clan. It was things like this as well that only brought out the worst in him. And it only showed him all the more how different Hikari was from them as she didn't agree with a lot of the clan practices. As for this specific practice, she wanted to modify it. Rather than a deadly poison that would kill off the failing child she'd prefer just one that would make them sick. That way if it turned out they didn't have the Dokueki Shigai then they would instead be trained solely in the stealth arts of the family and not the bloodline techniques. This would let the Hanamaru grow as well whereas by killing off a portion of their younger generation every year was keeping their numbers down. "I hate a lot of things about her clan honestly." The blond muttered as Kurai stayed silent. It wasn't his place to judge the clans, though inwardly he felt it was wasteful.

Back down below Hikari sighed before bending her knees slightly. "Alright bug boy, I'm going to kill you now. Please don't give up now." She taunted as she charged him. Shino sent his insects to attack thinking if they could reach her and drain her chakra before she could activate her jutsu then he could still win. However Hikari laughed and made a single hand seal as she charged and suddenly his kikachu were dropping the second they touched her. "The chemical make-up of my entire body dumbass! Including my skin! Your bugs can't touch me!" She laughed as she kept charging. Shino called his insects back as he jumped away from her, trying to think of a way to counter this new development.

"Proctor I forfeit!" He called a second later as nothing came to him. Hikari scowled but stopped as Genma jumped closer.

"You sure about that kid?" He asked as Shino nodded.

"If my kikachu are of no use then my other skills are not strong enough to defeat her. I'd rather lose this match and have the chance to train myself to become stronger than die here." He admitted as Genma nodded and Hikari growled lightly at not getting to kill him.

"Winner by surrender; Hanamaru Hikari of Iwa!" Genma announced as Hikari started walking towards the waiting area and Shino gathered the rest of his beetles and left for the stands. "Would Kurai of Iwa and Sabaku no Gaara of Suna please come down?" The jonin called out. Above the crowd had very few cheers or clapping for the genin. Not only was the local population from Konoha, who hated Iwa, but Hikari's revelation about her clan had disgusted many of the rest. Up in the Kage booth Onoki was smirking.

"Heh, told you it wouldn't take long. The Aburame tracking her underground was surprising but in the end she wasn't going to lose that match no matter what." He bragged. The Kazekage remained silent while Sarutobi was staring down at the back of the genin with a solemn gaze, thinking about what she said of her clan.

_'And that is the girl Naruto offered to bring with him to Konoha. How could anyone ever care for a clan that kills its children?' _He thought, not knowing Naruto and Hikari were against the practice. _'What sort of monsters has Naruto grown up with?'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Good job Hikari-chan!" Naruto cheered as the girl came back up to the waiting area. The heiress only smiled as Naruto wrapped his arms around her and pecked her on the cheek with his lips. Nobody else made any comments though Neji was still glaring at her from across the room, where he and Tenten had moved after she had spoken about her clan.

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Nope!" Hikari shook her head in amusement but then spun in Naruto's arms so that she was leaning back against him while they stood near the railing where Gaara and Kurai were walking towards the center by Genma. "So do you think Kurai can win?" She asked as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Don't know. Kurai's strong without a doubt, but he was ordered not to kill Gaara to avoid an incident an' all that. So he's gonna be forced to hold back. My jinchuriki brother on the other hand isn't restricted at all, and while I doubt he can kill Kurai considering... well _that_, I'm pretty sure he might be able to pin him down or something so the proctor calls it. This is gonna be a tough match." Naruto offered. Nearby Temari and Kankuro listened in and were wondering just what Kurai could do. Temari was also thinking about something else, namely a conversation she had with Gaara the night before.

_"Gaara? Could I speak with you?" She asked as the red head was sitting on the roof of the hotel staring at the sky again, as he did every night do to the insomnia his biju gave him. The younger Suna genin glanced at her but then nodded his head and looked back up to the sky, though Temari knew he was paying attention. "Um... I was wondering just what it was that Iwa boy said to you. I mean, you've been acting kind of different since you spoke with him and... Not that it's been bad or anything." She was quick to assure him as she stumbled over her own words. "Kankuro and I have been really happy you've stopped threatening everybody and that you've listened to people before tellin them off and what not. It's just, well, after knowing you for years with you not paying attention to anything outside of killing, I was... that is we, Kankuro wants to know too, we were wondering what he said to you. If you wouldn't mind sharing that is."_

_Gaara was silent as he listened to his sister, seemingly contemplating what she was asking of him. Should he share what his jinchuriki brother had told him with her? Naruto had told him to try finding people to spend time with and taking things from there. She was his sister by blood, and though she obviously feared him she was trying to be nice and clearly wanted to spend time with him. Perhaps he could see if spending time was enjoyable with her first before branching out to other people? And if he found he disliked the company of others then he could go back to killing everyone with an honest claim that he tried it._

_"He was accepted by the girl because she looked past the fear and hate of those around him and came to know him. When I told him nobody in Suna has done so with me, he said I should try outside of the village to see if I can find companionship and acceptance beyond killing. He told me that if I found it not my liking then I could always go back to how I was before if I preferred it. So I have been thinking over everything and have decided I would make an attempt to see if non-violent companionship is acceptable." He explained to her. Temari nodded her understanding as she took a couple steps closer and gave him a nervous smile._

_"Well, Kankuro and I want to help you with what we can, so we're good canidates right?" She offered and the red head looked down at her before slowly nodding his head. "Heh, just um... just don't start flirting with me okay? We're family after all." She joked lightly to see how he would react. Gaara stared stoicly before the slightest of grins showed on his face. Temari relaxed a bit as he turned back to the sky still with hsis slight grin. The girl smiled at the thought of perhaps getting to know her brother better without fear, even though she still felt as if she were walking on eggshells around him._

After that talk she had been speaking with her brother when she could, trying to get him to open up a bit more as well as using it as an opprotunity to try and get him to stop killing so much. Or threatening to do so, even just by the feeling of death he still put out. He had for the most part ignored her this morning but that was also to be expected since today was the Invasion. All Gaara had to focus on was a simple match against the older boy from Iwa and then he'd cut loose and kill his fill when the Uchiha's match came up. While said boy's current absence was somewhat worrying, since there was plenty of time before he came back she put it out of her mind for now. Now she was only worried about Gaara. Judging from what she had just heard from listening in on the blond and his girlfriend, she knew Gaara was in little to no danger of dying. But she still worried since he could get seriously hurt.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Kurai of Iwa versus Sabaku no Gaara of Suna; hajime!" Genma called out as he leapt back again. Kurai quickly threw out his right hand as his scythe appeared in a small burst of black smoke and twirled it for a second before getting into his combat stance. Gaara watched stoically as the cork on his gourd popped off and sand began to pour out and onto the ground. Kurai narrowed his eyes at the move before making a decision and channeling his chakra to his weapon. The blade began to glow white before he slashed at Gaara, launching a white crescent of energy at the jinchuriki.

"Engetsu (Crescent Moon)!" Gaara didn't even blink as sand on the ground rushed in front of him and made a wall Kurai's attack collided with, scattering the sand around them. The red head then turned around as the teen appeared behind him with his scythe raised up. "Senko no Higure (Flash of Twilight)!" He cried as he dashed forward, stopping in front of Gaara again with his scythe spinning. However his rapid attack had failed as more sand had leapt up behind the boy and blocked his high-speed triple slash. Narrowing his eyes at the development the teen tried to think of a way past the sand when Gaara narrowed his own eyes. Instantly more sand rushed out of his gourd and struck at the Iwa genin. Kurai began to strike back with his scythe, cutting down the sand tendrils as they came at him, backing up a step each time he did due to the high amount of sand being launched at him. Seeing no alternitive the teen launched another Engetsu at the sand to make it back off while he took a couple large jumps back to build more space between them. "Interesting..."

"I expected more from you, both from after your victory in the preliminaries and being on his team. I find this showing however to be disappointing." Gaara commented as Kurai raised a brow but otherwise said nothing. "I may have decided to give my jinchuriki brothers' words a chance but I have not given up my enjoyment of battle. So come, sate this lust or perish." The jinchuriki threatened as Kurai merely shook his head.

"I have a job to do and your entertainment is not a factor to its completion."

"Then you will die."

"I have yet to have been killed. Today shall not claim me either." Kurai replied before launching an Engetsu again and charging after it. When the sand rushed in to intercept the attack he leapt into the air and used another. More sand blocked his second attack as he landed behind Gaara and fired a third. The red head was growing annoyed as more sand blocked the attack before Kurai rushed in again. When the sand rose to attack him he responded by spinning his scythe all around him to keep it back, still charging for the younger boy. Growling Gaara raised a hand and the sand doubled in speed as it tried to attack, however Kurai merely sped up his defense as he continued to come closer. Finally within reach the teen lashed out with a quick slash across Gaara's chest. The jinchuriki stumbled back with a stunned look on his face as Kurai took a step forward and brought his scythe down on his shoulder, the blade digging half its length into Gaara. Gaara's expression changed to shock before he grinned as Kurai tilted his head to the side, noticing a lack of blood from both wounds. Suddenly Gaara grabbed the scythe shaft as the color faded from him, revealing it was a Suna Bunshin (Sand Clone) the entire time. Kurai pulled but found that his scythe wouldn't budge from the grip the sand Gaara had on it.

"I am at a disadvantage at close range. Did you believe I'd let you so close without taking steps to protect myself?" Gaara's voice came from behind as he rose from a neglected pile of sand that was made from Kurai deflecting the weaponized grains away. "So long as I have sand I can do anything." He taunted as Kurai's eyes focused slightly on him for a moment before he dropped the scythe and leapt away from the sand spikes that attempted to impale him. Gaara merely commanded the sand to engulf his weapon as he brought it behind him and gathered more sand in front of him. "And now I hold claim to your weapon. If you have nothing else to show me then you will die." Gaara warned as Kurai merely held his right hand out.

"My _Soul Reaver _is a special weapon bonded to me. It will not be so easy to separate us." Kurai commented as the scythe broke into black smoke behind Gaara and reappeared in another burst of it in Kurai's hand. Twirling the weapon around him for a moment Kurai settled back into his stance. "Shall we continue?" Gaara nodded with a slightly bloodthirsty grin at getting an opponent willing to fight him even after he saw how futile it was while Kurai's mind was racing. _'With his sand surrounding him I cannot get close. Even if I were to separate that current stock from him, I'm positive that gourd still holds more within. My __Engetsu__ is also incapable of breaking the sand defense and it is fast enough to block my __Senko no Higure__ without issue. I need to get him away from his sand and his gourd quickly before attacking. However I must remember not to kill or cripple as the jinchuriki is vital to the Invasion plan.' _The teen thought before rushing in to attack again. However when he was still only halfway to Gaara his scythe ignited into fire and he spun it in a circle in front of him. "Akatsuki (Red Dawn)!" From the spinning scythe came a twister of fire that rushed towards Gaara. The red head's eyes went wide as he raised both hands to make a sand wall in front of him that the fire crashed against. However the twister of flame kept pushing into it making Gaara call up more sand to reinforce it. The flame held strong for another ten seconds before vanishing as Kurai cut the attack. On the sand wall was a perfect circle of melted glass which made him nod to himself as Gaara's sand instantly overran it and grinded it back into tiny particles for usage with his supply. _'I need a stronger burst and a longer duration but I believe that will work.' _Without waiting Kurai charged in again at Gaara. Getting tired of the teen's endless charges the jinchuriki gathered sand around himself and then sent more out to meet his charge.

"I'm telling you its useless!" Gaara shouted as Kurai ignored it and kept running towards him. Without a word the teen launched another Engetsu at him that was blocked as again he leapt into the air. Spinning his weapon below him it ignited before becoming another burning twister as he used another Akatsuki against the jinchuriki. The power of the jutsu lifted him higher into the air even as Gaara made a shield above him to hold back the fire. This time Kurai held it for longer as he rose higher into the air from the force of his own jutsu. Gaara growled as the heat still reach him through his sand, making the area around him unbearably hot. Just when the jinchuriki thought his sand might begin to melt away though the attack stopped, with Kurai higher than the arena walls. Gaara moved his hot sand out of the way, grinding up any newly made glass as he did, and readied more sand for whatever attack the Iwa genin would launch from above him. As Kurai began to fall back to the ground he swung his scythe around himself as he started flipping in mid-air, building himself into a rapid spin with his weapon acting more as a saw blade then a scythe with his speed. Gaara wondered what he was planning as the scythe began to glow white and kept glowing as he fell.

"Engetsu Daibaku (Great Crescent Moon Blast)!" He shouted as the glow flew off his blade, the white beam far larger than the others he used as it rushed for the jinchuriki. Gaara barely raised his sand up to shield himself when the energy impacted with it and exploded. Kurai used the force of his own attack and the explosion it caused to slow himself down and land in a roll before getting back to his feet to keep fighting if he needed to. The smoke hadn't cleared from where Gaara was when bullets of sand were launched out making Kurai begin to bat them aside with his scythe. However the bullets increased in speed and number as the teen started having trouble deflecting them.

And then one broke through.

Kurai was spun to his side from the force as the bullet struck his left arm, making him drop the scythe as a gasp of pain left him. More bullets converged on the now open target and began to pummel him all across his body before a tendril of sand whipped up from the already deflectd sand and stabbed him in the stomach. Kurai gasped again as his eyes went wide and collapsed to the ground holding his wound while the sand gathered back into the smoke which finally started clearing to show Gaara breathing heavily while letting his arms drop from having used them to guide his sand.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Shit. Kurai's bleeding, that's not good." Naruto cursed as he took a hand off the girl leaning against him to bang it against the railing. "Now Gaara is really in trouble."

"In trouble? Your teammate was just stabbed in the gut and you think he can fight back?" Kankuro shouted at them as both Iwa genin shared a look before turning back to the black wearing Suna boy.

"And he's been stabbed straight through the heart before, what's the problem?" Hikari sarcastically commented making everyone turn to her as Naruto picked up on the explaination.

"Kurai's got this very bad mental problem that only acts up when he starts bleeding. He goes from the calm and dangerous guy you've been seeing to a bloodthirsty zealot. Before he'd keep Gaara alive, as he was ordered. Now, he's going to say fuck the rules and try to kill everyone, starting with Gaara since he hurt him. And trust us, he will get up from that and attack. The guy is an immortal after all."

"Immortality is a myth." Neji spat out from the other side of the area. Naruto just scoffed and turned back to the arena floor.

"Tch, shows what you know." He commented as laughter began to echo out from Kurai's location.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Gaara narrowed his eyes as Kurai began shaking on the ground with insane laughter echoing around him. The red head was confused. Whenever he'd stab someone before they'd either die instantly or spend their last moments wailing in agony. Never before had someone been laughing about a fatal wound when he killed them. So he was understanably confused about the older teen.

And then Kurai began to stand up.

"How? That was a fatal strike. I know it, I've killed others with the same attack."

"And? I can't be killed, didn't my weaker half tell you that?" Kurai commented as he stood back up, the hole in his gut bleeding freely. With a mental command the scythe reappeared in his hands as he spun it around. "So how about I give you a taste of pain now?" He asked as his eyes flashed purpled and he threw his scythe at Gaara, the weapon still attatched to his hand by a purple cord of chakra. "Kyuushutsu no Yami (Reclaiming the Darkness)!" Gaara raised sand up to defend but with a twitch in Kurai's hand the scythe flipped around the created wall and kept rushing to Gaara. The jinchuriki dodged as he vanished in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) and appeared further away while the weapon returned to Kurai's hand. "Oh come on! Jashin-sama demands pain! And as his avatar I, Sin, will obey!" He screamed as he rushed him, throwing the scythe again at Gaara. The jinchuriki used his scythe to knock the scythe to the ground but thanks to the chakra still attached to it Sin was able to bring it right back up and send it flying at him once more. Gaara growled in his throat as he sent twin streams of sand out, one to deflect and hold down the scythe and the other to strike the insane teen. Sin stopped his charge and began dodging the sand while the scythe continued on, swerving around the sand and rapidly closing in on the red head. Just as the scythe reached above Gaara Sin's eyes glowed purple. "Tenkyo Shikyo (Moving Death)!" He called as he vanished, suddenly appearing above the scythe, holding it with the hand that had been attatched to it by the glowing chakra. "DIE!" He cried as he slashed down at the red head. Gaara did his best to dodge but still cried out in pain as the scythe cut his back, severing the strap holding the gourd to his back and opening a bloody gash. In an instant the sand from the gourd reacted, as even the gourd itself broke down into more sand. The desert material was quick to wrap Sin up and pull him away as Gaara stumbled in the opposite direction with shock on his face.

"That... that hurt..." Reaching around behind him he felt his back and felt his hand get wet. Pulling his hand back he saw it red with blood. "Blood... It's... It's my blood..." He muttered staring at his hand in shock before something in him snapped. "MY BLOOD! AHH! MOTHER I'M BLEEDING!" He screamed as he clutched his head. Sin was laughing as he struggled to break out of the sand wrapped around him.

"Yes! That's it! Scream! Jashin-sama adores the sounds of pain!" Turning his eyes hatefully on Sin Gaara held up an open hand.

"You... I'LL KILL YOU! Sabaku Soso (Sand Burial)!" He called as he closed his fist. The sand holding the teen imploded on itself as Sin went silent and his head slumped down from where it was sticking out of the top. Gaara glared at the prone genin before the impossible happened.

Sin laughed.

"That tickled heathen. Tell me, ya got anything better?" Gaara was shocked as the teen began to try and break free again. Gaara raised both hands this time and slammed them together as the sand imploded more violently and forcefully than before. Sin only grunted for a moment as he grinned. "Oh yeah, right there. Again you little prick, this is fun!" Gaara didn't know what to do as Sin was still trying to break out and attack even though he couldn't budge an inch more than his head.

"You need a genjutsu, brother, or he won't stop." Naruto called out from the stands as the other genin in the waiting area were staring at Sin as if he weren't human. Only Temari was looking at Gaara in worry over how he had been harmed for the first time in his life. "Trust me, it's happened before. Knock him unconscious or he _will _keep trying to kill you, and eventually he _will _succeed." The blond warned as Gaara turned back to Sin to see him still struggling but now glaring up at Naruto.

"Blond bastard. You'll get yours next you hear me?! I'll offer you to Jashin-sama next!" He threatened. Naruto only rolled his eyes and rested his head back down on Hikari's shoulder as both watched the match without much interest. They new it was over once he was captured. All Gaara had to do was knock him out since killing him was impossible. Gaara thought for a moment about what to do since he didn't have a genjutsu in his repetoire. In fact, outside of his sand jutsu he only had one technique and that was for letting his biju take over, a self inflicted sleep. It didn't work on others though so he only hd one option.

Forming a compacted ball of sand the size of the teens' head, Gaara brought it down on him. Sin grunted and tried to struggle but Gaara smashed it down again twice as hard. When that failed to knock him out he did it a third time as hard as he could, finally sending the captured teen out of consciousness. Still holding him in the sand with the ball hanging over his head Gaara moved forward and used a small bit of sand to lift his head and see that his eyes were closed as blood leaked from the wound on the back of his head. Genma suddenly appeared a few feet away and looked over the Iwa genin from where he was before nodding.

"Winner by knockout, Sabaku no Gaara of Suna!" He called as the crowd began a polite applause, still in shock over the Iwa teens' madness and abilities. In a swirl of dust Kurotsuchi appeared on the arena floor by Gaara.

"Let him go now. I'll take care of him." Gaara gave her a small glare, still wanting to somehow kill the teen for hurting him but complied as the sand let him drop roughly to the ground and gathered at Gaara's back, reforming his gourd with a new cork to keep it close and a new harness made of sand since his cloth strap had been cut. When the sand left Kurai's body though both jonin winced at the sight. His body was nothing more than a bloody mess of flash barely holding onto the broken bones from the neck down. "Ugh... the things I do for my village." Kurotsuchi muttered as she knelt down and picked Kurai up, laying his scythe across his chest and vanishing in a Shunshin just as she had appeared.

"Okay kid... you can go back now." Genma told Gaara as the jinchuriki gave the man a small glare before walking off the arena. "Would Hyuuga Neji and Kinuta Dosu please step down?" The jonin called out as the two began their walk from the waiting area to the ground below.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"What is that boy Tsuchikage-dono? Such an interesting invulnerability he has." The Kazekage muttered as Onoki shrugged.

"To be honest we're not entirely sure and he can't explain it himself since it was forced on him. Iwa found him in some border village as the only survivor to a slaughter and brought him back for questioning. Afterward, he wanted to join our shinobi forces to thank us for saving him. It was only later when we found out about his split personality that we learned the full story of what happened and why he was the only survivor. Sin, as the insane half calls itself, is part of the Cult of Jashin. I'm sure you've heard of them but incase you haven't they're a bunch of murderous nutjobs who worship a god of pain and blood. That worship takes the form of mass slaughter. During the Third War the Cult was actually the only thing both sides of the war agreed on, being kill the bastards when you see them." Onoki grunted as Sarutobi nodded, remembering them himself and a few of his encounters with the insane Jashinists. "When we learned some of the Cult had survived and was in Tsuchi no Kuni we rushed out and slaughtered them all. The very few who had the same immortality Kurai has were gathered up and I personally used my Jinton (Dust Release) to reduce them to atoms. Technically those atoms are still alive, I'd just like to see dust try and fight. A few wanted to do the same to Kurai but since he was so loyal to us after saving him and giving him a home we decided to give him a shot. Outside of a couple incidents where Sin gets loose, he's been the perfect little soldier for me. That's why I just make sure there's someone who can restrain him on any team he's placed on."

"I see. Thank you for explaining."

"Feh, least I could do after he tried to kill your boy when I gave Kurai orders not to. Then again, Sin never listens to anyone other than the insane ramblings of his own thoughts."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Down in the arena Neji stood across from Dosu as both genin were sizing the others up across from each other. Genma looked from face to face before nodding and leaping back as he started the match. "Hyuuga Neji of Konoha versus Kinuta Dosu of Oto; hajime!"


	23. Arc 3 Chapter 10

Sorry this took so long everyone but it's finally finished and here it is! Chapter 23 to my Iwa!Naruto story! Yay, cheers and applause all around!

Seriously though, sorry. Had to get a new computer and then got focused on my other stories, including a new one that I put up and another new one I'm planning. So sorry for the delay but still, here's your new chapter! First some review responses and then the chapter for you itself.

****KnightOfZaku:**** I've confirmed on a few occasions that Naruto will kill one of the 'Konoha 11'. As for Jiraiya trying to convince Naruto later on to defect, yes and no. I can't really say much more than that without spoilers.

****Lucison:**** Well I see your point but at the same time I wanted Gaara to win with only the single cut and without tapping into Shukaku so I had him restrain and pull Sin away quickly after getting hit. And thanks for liking Hikari's bloodline. I haven't seen anyone do anything like it in any fanfic I've read so it feels really original plus possible in the Naruto world. I mean we have a clan that can manipulate bones to an absurd degree, this is along those lines of being a body manipulating bloodline and not an element one. Whenever most people create their own bloodline, it's usually an element or dojutsu of some kind so I really wanted to stay away from those and turning blood into poison was the first thing I thought of. Then when thinking it over I wondered 'Why only blood?' and reworked it to be the entire body instead. I'm very happy with how it turned out and the positive response to it.

****WalkingStranger99:**** Karin is currently wherever she went after getting saved in the forest just like canon. The only difference that happened to her so far is that she was saved by Naruto's team instead of Sasuke and had a nice conversation with her revealed Uzumaki family before heading off. She won't be seen again until Arc 5.

Those are the only ones I felt like responding to. Enjoy your new chapter!

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Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

**Chapter Ten – **Fear is in the Eyes

"Winner; Hyuuga Neji of Konoha!" Genma called out as Neji scoffed and began to walk away from the downed Oto ninja. The match had been short and brutal. Dosu had attempted to use his Melody Arm to create an opening by disorienting Neji through the sound waves it created, the Hyuuga however was wearing earplugs meaning a simple shot wasn't going to be enough. The Oto genin tried to back pedal so that he could build up power and try again but Neji rushed him and began using his Jyuken to lock down Dosu's chakra, and then his movement before finally knocking him unconscious. It all happened in less that five minutes.

In the stands above people were cheering over Neji's victory and the boy himself allowed a small smile to show as he walked back up. Genma inwardly mused that he had immense potential before calling down the next two competitors as the crowd got ready for the next match.

In the competitors box Naruto quickly locked lips with Hikari in a passionate kiss before turning and heading down, Temari having left the second Neji was declared the winner. "Wish me luck Hikari-chan."

"Why? You won't need it. Just hurry up, the last fight was boring." She teased as he only grinned as he spun around and left. He was on the stairs down when he came across Neji walking back up. The two glared at each other but said nothing as Naruto kept going down and Neji had paused. The Hyuuga clicked his teeth in annoyance but began walking up again once he was past as Naruto rolled his eyes and hurried down, knowing that Temari was likely walking onto the field at that very moment.

The blond shielded his eyes for a moment as he stepped out onto the sun filled arena floor before dropping his hand and walking up towards the arena's center with a grin. He also idly noticed that Temari had only just stopped when he got out so he was glad he wasn't trailing too far behind. The girl only raised a brow as he got close. "Done flirting with your girlfriend?" She asked, having noticed him staying behind just to kiss the purple haired girl.

"For now. After this I plan on doing some more." He admitted with a casual shrug, getting Temari to roll her eyes as he grinned when he noticed it. "Why? Jealous?" The girl began sputtering denials as he laughed. When Temari realized he was only teasing she growled but composed herself as Naruto got his laughter under control and Genma stepped up.

"Temari of Suna versus Naruto of Iwa; hajime!" Genma called out, getting Naruto to turn to the proctor angrily so that he could chew the man out for not calling his full name. However as the boy opened his mouth he was blindsided by Temari pulling the fan off her back to blast him with a gust of wind that sent him flying across the arena. Naruto growled as he landed and rolled across the ground before kicking to his feet and glaring at Temari. His anger with the proctor could wait, he had a match to win first.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Mind explaining why the proctor purposely left out my genin's surname Sarutobi?" Onoki asked with a growl as he watched Naruto get blasted before getting up to fight. The Hokage sighed as he resigned himself to explaining as the Kazekage looked on from his seat, wanting to know the answer as well.

"With the boy's lineage and loyalty to Iwa, it would be catastrophic to Konoha if word got out to the public. Already some of my own ninja came to find out the truth and have been sworn to secrecy as the genin are now questioning things as well."

"Not my problem." The Tsuchikage interjected. "Your proctor's move caused Naruto to lose his focus and get cheap-shot across the field. I don't care what happens to your village but when it distracts my shinobi we're going to have a problem."

"I understand your point and perhaps I should have sent word ahead of time warning you of my decision but what's done is done."

"What is the boy's name? If it would be so detrimental to Konoha it must be important." The Kazekage asked as Sarutobi stayed silent but glanced at Onoki.

"Oh just wait. I've given Naruto no orders about hiding his identity and I will not do so either. He'll probably freely reveal it himself during or after the match." The diminutive Kage said and while the Kazekage nodded slowly and turned to watch, Sarutobi began to silently pray Naruto was knocked out before he could. That info could not be allowed out if Konoha was to keep any of its standing in the world.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I hope you enjoyed that freebie, it's the only one you're gonna get." Naruto shouted as he ran forward towards Temari. The girl only grinned before waving her fan to send another gust at the teen. The boy narrowed his eyes before pushing chakra to his feet and dashing to the side to avoid the brunt of the attack, only spinning lightly from the edges of it before continuing his charge. Seeing him avoid her so easily Temari gritted her teeth and decided to use an actual jutsu this time instead of an overpowered gust.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Sickle Weasel Technique) She called as she waved her fan. This time instead of a simple (albeit huge) gust of wind, the fan let out a torrent of shredding winds at the charging genin. Naruto grit his teeth as he leapt up, hoping to go over the range of the technique. However Temari anticipated his dodging and was already swinging her fan again for another one. "Kamaitachi!"

"Fuck this! Futon: Senpuu Bakuha!" (Wind Release: Whirlwind Blast) Naruto shouted as he punched forward, sending out a large wind blast that collided with Temari's Kamaitachi and exploded in midair, the blast shoving Naruto back to the ground as Temari used her fan to shield herself. When she moved the weapon out of the way to see she saw three small black balls land in front of her before exploding in a large cloud of smoke. The blond girl coughed a bit until she managed to blow the smoke away with her fan but by then it was too late.

"Shit!"

"Ya got that right!" Naruto taunted as he was up close to the girl and threw a punch at her head. Temari closed her fan quickly as she moved it into the way for a block but Naruto kept going, making her continually move the fan to block his attacks. The problem was that he was faster than her, far faster actually. She already knew this from his preliminary fight against the green spandex wearing genin so she wasn't surprised when he upped his speed and began to get a few hits through her guard. The girl was trying her best but eventually found herself beaten when he hooked his foot on her fan and pulled it out of her grip before tripping her and landing on her with a knee to her gut. "Forfeit Suna girl. Tsuchikage-sama said not to kill you but I'm sure you wouldn't want me to scar that pretty face." Temari growled in anger, mostly at herself for getting pinned, but nodded her head.

"I surrender." She called as Naruto grinned and got off her without a word. Temari stood up and walked away to pick up her fan as the proctor popped up now that the fighting was finished.

"Winner; Naruto of Iwa!" He announced, reminding Naruto of his anger at the man.

"That's _Namikaze_ Naruto you fucking dumbass! Use my full name!" He shouted at the man, making him frown but remain silent. His shout though got the attention of the people above in the stands. Most recognized the name instantly as the surname to their Yondaime and began to draw comparisons in appearance between the boy and the man. However just as many people dismissed it as impossible as not only was the Yondaime never reported as having even married but also that if he did have a child they'd be a Konoha shinobi and not one with their greatest enemies. Which was why the crowd reaction was very unexpected to the blond as well as the Tsuchikage.

"Liar!"

"The Yondaime never had a kid!"

"Looking like the man doesn't mean you're related!"

"Go back to Iwa!"

Naruto's eye twitched as he had his head down and was growling under his breath. If there was one thing he hated being called it was a liar. Genma was about to tell him to leave the field for the next match when everyone's attention was pulled off of the blond by the swirl of leaves at the arena's center. When the leaves died done it was revealed that Kakashi and Sasuke were the cause, the boy even wearing a different outfit. Sasuke now wore a black shirt with matching shorts as well as some bandages and straps on his left forearm. His clan symbol stood out proudly on his back and the boy himself was smirking while Kakashi only looked around idly before noticing Naruto standing a few feet away.

"Sorry, are we late?" The jonin asked while Genma shook his head.

"Nope. We were just about to have the last match of the first round. You're fine."

"Good." Kakashi chirped. "Alright Sasuke, good luck in your matches. See ya later." He said before vanishing in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) up towards the stands to watch with his fellow jonin sensei's. Sasuke meanwhile only grunted before walking towards the waiting area, idly noticing Naruto ahead of him, the blond having begun his trip back when Sasuke showed up. The Iwa teen was silent as he walked up, caught up in his own angry thoughts about everyone denying his claim to the Namikaze name. He hardly even noticed that by the time he had gotten to the top Hikari was waiting for him. In fact he almost walked past her before she grabbed his arm.

"Hey." The blond shook his head to refocus himself as he faced his girlfriend and she only smiled before pulling him along, past the waiting area and down the hall to a point where they were out of sight. "You're angry."

"What gave it away?" He replied sarcastically as she frowned.

"You had to have known that kind of response was possible." She mused as he shrugged.

"Considering the prelims where it was a shocked denial I kind of expected more of that before they would realize it's true. I mean, my appearance and skills aren't enough?"

"I suppose not. But you're forgetting something Naru-kun." Hikari said as she wrapped him in a hug, the boy returning the gesture as she wrapped her arms around him and he rested his chin on her head. "What they think doesn't matter. We know the truth and if you're still angry with them, then all you have to do is wait. Remember the plan alright? Konoha will get what they deserve and more. Just be patient." She calmly told him as he sighed but said nothing, only holding her a little tighter in response.

"...Thank you, Hikari-chan."

"...We better get back before they start to think something's up."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"To think your Yondaime had a child, and that he's a part of Iwa's forces no less." The Kazekage mused idly as they watched Naruto and Sasuke leave the field. Onoki was frowning at the audiences reaction to the reveal while Sarutobi was frowning as well since Naruto actually revealed it. While the crowd's response was welcome in his mind, it was only a matter of time before it was revealed as the truth. The Kazekage already knew it since he had heard what was said only moments earlier about the possible damage Naruto's full name could cause. "I wonder what would happen if the crowd were to learn his claim is true? It's an amusing thought."

"No offense Kazekage-dono, but I hope they don't. I was not expecting their denial but am glad for it. Konoha will be ruined should that be known as the truth." Sarutobi replied as Onoki scoffed.

"Just wait, Naruto has another match and if I know _my_ genin, he'll make sure they learn of it by the time he finishes." The shortest Kage there taunted, inwardly making Sarutobi sweat as it was a very likely possibility.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Proctor I forfeit!" Kankuro called as Naruto and Hikari walked back into the room, seeing that Sasuke had taken a spot near the corner to watch the matches alone while Tenten frowned at hearing Kankuro quit without a fight.

"Fine. Winner by surrender is Tenten of Konoha!" Genma announced as the Iwa pair looked at Kankuro strangely before heading to the railing to wait. "We will have a ten minute break before starting the second round." He declared before vanishing in a Shunshin like Kakashi had earlier. Naruto and Hikari walked over to where the Suna trio were standing to talk while Tenten went out of the room for something with Neji and Sasuke just waited in the corner he had chosen, sending small glares at Naruto occasionally which the blond boy ignored.

"So why'd you quit?" Naruto asked as they walked up, an arm around Hikari's shoulder. "I mean, that chick only uses weapons right? Should be easy enough for a puppet user I think." The boy mused while Kankuro shrugged.

"Maybe but I want to keep Karasu's full arsenal a secret, ya know?" He replied quietly, referencing the Invasion plan. The Iwa pair nodded while Naruto looked at Temari.

"No hard feelings alright? I just wasn't going to accept a loss when I didn't have to." Temari only rubbed her side lightly where one of his punches had connected that still hurt but nodded her head as he then turned his attention to Gaara. "And sorry for you brother, but you won't be fighting next round." He told him getting the three to look confused.

"I'm going to forfeit, it's why I dragged out my match in the opening even though I had a jutsu that let me win instantly. I can't even beat Kurai because of his immortality. If I wanted to beat you, my best guess would be poison gases but they might kill you or wouldn't wear off in time for the _'next round'_ so I won't use them on you." Hikari explained, the emphasis on next round being an obvious reference for them. "Besides, Tsuchikage-sama said to forfeit no matter who won your match so that I could conserve my chakra."

"I see..." Gaara muttered with a frown. While he would be truthful and admit he wouldn't have killed her since she was so important to his jinchuriki brother, he was still wanting to fight. Kurai had really got him going and now he was still lusting for battle but wasn't going to get it until the Invasion, which would start with the Uchiha's match.

"I guess I'll be the only one fighting next round." Naruto mused before grinning. "And it's against that white-eyed prick. I'll make it a very entertaining and bloody match." The boy promised as he grinned while the older Suna siblings only exchanged nervous glances. While Naruto clearly wasn't the 'kill everyone around' insane that Gaara was slowly going to attempt not to be, he was also clearly a fight nut that enjoyed when things got messy. The boy's eyes then widened as he realized something. "Wait, you just quit," He started, pointing a finger at Kankuro. "You're going to quit," He continued, this time nudging Hikari lightly with his arm. "And then we come back to me. Damn, I pretty much get two fights in a row. Awesome!" Hikari and Temari rolled their eyes in unison, though Hikari had a smile as she did, while Gaara only frowned and Kankuro shook his head.

The five waited patiently for the break to end, only making idle chatter as they did. Silently both Temari and Kankuro were admittedly slightly afraid of Naruto for his battle-lust but would also admit that he'd been a good influence on Gaara for the short time they've known each other and spoken together. While Gaara still enjoyed killing, the feeling of death around him had lessened enough that they could actually attempt conversation with him and he'd actually pay attention and reply. Which was a marked improvement over the annoyed stares and silent threat of death if they opposed him.

"Alright, break time is over!" Genma announced as he reappeared in the center of the arena. The crowd, which had been talking about the previous matches, settled back down as they were ready to watch more fights. "Okay, would Hanamaru Hikari of Iwa and Subaku no Gaara of Suna come down now?"

"Procter I forfeit!" Hikari called out right away getting many in the crowd to groan at missing out on another match.

"You sure?" Genma asked, hoping to dissuade her and get the match going. The visiting dignitaries had to be entertained in order to help bring more funds to Konoha after all.

"Hey, I know my limits. I'm not about to get past all of Gaara-san's sand so I'm not going to injure myself trying." The girl explained with a scowl, annoyed he didn't just accept her surrender without complaint like he did for Kankuro's. She idly wondered if it was because he wanted to see the Iwa genin get hurt and possibly killed or if it was because the crowd didn't like missing two matches in a row.

"Fine, then the winner by surrender is Subaku no Gaara of Suna. Would the next competitors please come down now?" Genma called, silently hoping these two wouldn't quit. Neji only scoffed but began walking down while Naruto kissed Hikari again before he decided to be a bit flashy and simply leapt over the railing rather than walk through the passage to the stairs. As he neared the ground he kicked off the wall and landed in a roll, coming to stand in front of Genma. "At least someone's eager." The man muttered as Naruto glared at him.

"You gonna call my full name this time dumbass?" The blond half asked and half growled. Genma sighed but shook his head.

"Sorry kid, orders from above." He replied, making Naruto send a glare towards the Kage Box where he knew Sarutobi was. Inwardly Genma was one that knew the truth the second he laid eyes on the boy. He had known about Minato and Kushina and had known they were expecting a child. While he hadn't known what had happened to said child, once he had heard about the Iwa genin claiming the Namikaze name and seen a picture when he went to the Hokage for answers, he knew it was true. His only worry was how Iwa got him as he didn't know Sarutobi had sent him away in the first place.

"I'm hating that old fucker more and more every minute." Naruto muttered as he crossed his arms and waited for Neji to arrive. The wait wasn't too long as within a couple minutes the boy came out onto the field from the halls Naruto had chosen to skip. Many in the crowd began cheering when the Hyuuga came into view, both because his opponent was from their most hated enemy and because many were hoping Neji would beat Naruto to a pulp for claiming to be related to their Yondaime. Neji himself started smirking when he heard the cheers while Naruto only scowled and silently vowed to expose the truth of his heritage before the day was over. He was tired of hearing the calls of 'liar' directed towards him.

"You both ready?" Genma asked as Neji reached the arena's center and stopped across from Naruto. Both teens nodded so Genma raised and arm. "Hyuuga Neji of Konoha versus Naruto of Iwa; hajime!" He shouted before leaping back.

"You should give up. It's my fate to win this tournament." Neji taunted as Naruto only scoffed in response.

"Fate huh? Well I don't believe in that bullshit. I make my own fate." The blond stated before rushing Neji, surprising many as close range combat was where the Hyuuga clan shined best. Naruto opened the match with a right hook that Neji batted to the side but when he tried to strike back at the blond's tenketsu to seal his chakra he missed as Naruto pulled his arm back and used his left to bat aside Neji's own attack in a mirror of the deflection he had just done. The Hyuuga growled but began throwing out the rapid precise strikes the Hyuuga were known for as Naruto began blocking them in a way that stopped Neji's instinctual counter strike on the defending limb. Neji growled lowly in frustration but kept his assault up while Naruto kept his face in the same irritated and angered scowl it had been in since the beginning of the match as he continued his defense. Finally the two both simultaneously dashed back for some room as they kept to their respective stances.

"Not bad, but don't think it means anything. Just because you beat that Suna girl or my failure of a teammate in the preliminaries doesn't make you the equal to a genius such as I." Neji taunted, hoping to get under Naruto's skin. It was a well known strategy to infuriate your opponent as they would then get sloppy and easier to defeat, and Neji was very skilled in taking small visual ques and turning them into emotional and verbal assaults on his opponents. The only problem here was that Naruto wasn't responding or showing anything, just the same scowl the entire time. He wasn't even sweating or breathing any heavier than when the match started, as if they hadn't been fighting but merely walking around.

"I wonder how a close range fighter like a Hyuuga would have done against the long range strategies Temari clearly favors?" Naruto questioned getting Neji to narrow his eyes at the unspoken insinuation that he would have lost that fight. "Plus, have you ever fought your teammate when he opened the gates? I highly doubt it as the gates are a kinjutsu that are never to be used on allies out of the fear of killing them. At least that's how Iwa looks at them, does Konoha view the Eight Gates differently?" Naruto asked as Neji remained silent. Truthfully Lee had never even removed his weights against Neji so he didn't know. What Lee had shown in the preliminaries was very impressive, even Neji would admit that much (silently of course). Neji knew he wasn't as fast as Lee was and was only staying on top during their spars because of his bloodline and fighting style making him the superior taijutsu user between them in addition to the boy handicapping himself by always fighting with his weights firmly strapped on. However Naruto was questioning that by bringing up valid points.

"It doesn't matter. Fate would never allow a failure like Lee to defeat a genius such as myself. And I have a couple tricks of my own that would have handled the kunoichi." Neji replied, pushing the thoughts out of his mind to focus exclusively on Naruto. Without even trying the blond had turned the mental assault back towards him and almost made him doubt himself with only a couple small questions.

"Tch, more fate talk." Naruto clicked his teeth in annoyance. "You know, I did my research on a few of you all during the month to know how to fight you and I found out that you shouldn't even be in the finals. How's that for fate?" Naruto mocked as Neji scowled.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, making Naruto actually grin.

"I mean the seal on your forehead." The blond pointed out getting the Hyuuga, as well as everyone in the stands that knew of the Hyuuga clans' practices, to widen their eyes in shock. "Yeah, that little mark on your head that makes you a branch house servant to the main. It has a pain and death function right? One that any main house member can activate at will? Your opponent in the prelims was the Hyuuga heiress, meaning she's main house right? Then doesn't that mean if she was actually ruthless instead of a pansy that she could've beaten you in a single move?" Naruto questioned as Neji was now shaking in silent rage. Up above the Hyuuga were fuming at how the blond from Iwa not only somehow knew some of their clan secrets but was even spilling those secrets out to the public. Naruto himself was sending a silent thanks to Orochimaru, who had provided info on everyone from Konoha in the Finals to help them prepare better and as a thank you to Onoki for accepting and joining his plan to strike at the village.

"I don't know how someone like you knows of that but it doesn't matter! Hinata-sama is weak and is fated to be such! She could never defeat me and knows it!" Neji spat out angrily while Naruto only grinned and made a half-ram sign mockingly.

"You sure? I mean, one of these in your direction would have you screaming to death wouldn't it? If I was her then I would've just blasted the seal until you gave up or died. I mean, you branch house guys are a dime a dozen ain't ya?" The blond taunted getting Neji to shout in rage as he charged the blond, Byakugan flaring to activity as he did. Naruto dropped his grin into a smirk at making the older teen lose his cool before he began deflecting Jyuken strikes as fast as he could, none getting through his guard. A strike at his shoulder was knocked over the arm from below. A palm to the chest was shot away to the side making the Hyuuga teen spin into another strike only for that one to be pushed up. Everything Neji tried was pushed away by Naruto's faster guard until the boy had enough and dashed back to get some distance. "Futon: Senpuu Bakuha!" He cried as he punched towards Neji, letting out a wind blast that sent the brunette flying back. Naruto wasted no time and charged in as Neji stumbled to his feet.

"Enough of this." He muttered as the blond closed in. "Hakkesho Kaiten!" (Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation) Neji called as he began spinning and letting out a large amount of chakra from his body, blocking Naruto's charge and sending the boy back a couple feet. Naruto sprang back to his feet as Neji ended the move in a lower stance than his normal one. "You are within range of my divination." He taunted as Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) Neji dashed forward quickly and struck at Naruto with two Jyuken stabs of his hands but the boy deflected them. Not going to be deterred, Neji continued the move aiming four more strikes, again to be blocked by Naruto. Growling Neji forced himself to go as fast as possible, attacking faster and faster as the taijutsu technique continued. But to now avail as Naruto blocked each and every blow. When Neji reached the final and sixty-fourth hit, Naruto didn't just block him but grabbed his wrist before the outstretched palm came close to his body. "Impossible!"

"My turn!" The blond grinned as he tossed Neji's arm to the side to throw him off balance and began raining down his own punches and kicks to the open Hyuuga. Inwardly Naruto found it hilarious that Neji thought he could out-speed him as Naruto had already proven he was far faster than any of the genin in the Exams after his match with Lee. The blond was sure that had he been hit by the technique Neji used then he'd have been beaten, even with his regeneration. However since he was faster than Neji he decided to taunt the boy by blocking each hit without issue as well as use it as an opening to counter attack. Naruto laughed as he aimed a few punches at Neji's face before letting out a spin kick that sent him down on ground while Naruto laughed. "You actually thought that would work when I've proven I'm faster! That's so fucking funny!" He cheered. "Seriously, my father was considered the fastest man alive before dying! How could I not live up to that?" Naruto asked, referencing the Yondaime again. More in the crowd were starting to think it may actually be possible as Neji struggled to his feet.

"Lies." He spat out before spitting up some blood and glaring at Naruto. "You can claim the Yondaime as your father as much as you like. It will never be true!" He shouted as he charged Naruto and tried to punch him in the face. However with how clearly injured he was, the attack was so slow that Naruto only raised a hand to grab him by the wrist and stop him in his tracks. Naruto began squeezing the wrist painfully as Neji cried out and dropped to his knees, trying to pull his arm free but it wouldn't budge from the blond's grip.

"Lies... liar..." He muttered before growling. "I am sick and tired of everyone calling my heritage a lie! My heritage makes me heir to a village! Makes me heir to a country! Who are you to deny it?!" He shouted before twisting his wrist to snap Neji's as the teen screamed his pain. The blond then kicked Neji in the chest as he let go of his wrist, making the boy fly back and roll across the ground before stopping and getting up on his knees, painfully holding his broken wrist to his chest. "I am the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina! I am the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko!" Naruto announced as his eyes turned red and the whiskers on his cheeks grew thick and wild. Red chakra began to bubble out of Naruto, covering him like a second skin while from the head the chakra shaped itself into twin fox ears and a tail of energy sprouted at the base of his spine. "I am the Shinku Akuma!" (Crimson Devil) He declared before vanishing in a burst of speed as Neji's eyes went wide, right before the shut in pain at the hit to his face.

There was no warning or build up at all as Neji began getting hit from every direction in the course of a few seconds. All the crowd could see was a red blur surrounding Neji from Naruto's speed at rushing around the Hyuuga and attacking. The older teen would fold over himself vomit up blood when he was struck in the gut only to snap back as he received a hit to his chin. Then he'd spin to one side from getting attacked on the left just to get whiplash from how fast Naruto would bash him from the other side right after. Neji couldn't put up a defense as Naruto was just too fast and he was already in too much pain from the prior beating and his broken wrist. He came close to blacking out multiple times only for Naruto snap him back into focus again with another hit. Finally he received a massive uppercut that sent him straight up and away from the assault. However this was no reprieve as he felt a pressure against his back that had him worried. "Futon: Satsubatsu Sora!" (Wind Release: Bloodthirsty Sky) Was heard before that pressure exploded in pain across his entire body. Neji was heard screaming but couldn't be seen due to the red winds surrounding him before it vanished and he crashed to the ground covered in multiple slash marks from the winds. His clothes were stained red with his blood and his headband had fallen off, showing everyone the seal Naruto spoke of earlier, a black mark in the shape of the kanji for ban. The blond himself was hunched over a couple feet away with his head down as the chakra tail waved wildly behind him. Everyone was silent at the sheer assault Naruto had just unleashed on the Hyuuga prodigy before they began to hear something. It was quiet but kept growing slowly in volume. People began to notice Naruto's shoulders were shaking and wondered what was happening before he threw his head back and spread his arms as he started laughing loudly, his face a bloodthirsty grin at what he had just done.

"How's that huh?! Still want to mock me as a liar?! Still want to deny my heritage?! I told you and this is my proof right here! Hahahahahaha!" Naruto laughed. In front of him Neji groaned showing he was still alive and looked in Naruto's direction fearfully. The red chakra coming off the blond was terrifying and disgusting yet he seemed to revel in it while that last jutsu had left him unable to move, likely due to cutting a key tendon or two.

"Wh-*cough*... what are y-you?" He stuttered out through his pain and Naruto's eyes widened as he looked down at him.

"You're still alive?" He shouted in surprise. "I thought for sure that killed you! That is some impressive will to live." He commented before Neji's question registered. "What am I? Didn't you hear me? I'm the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko, the strongest of the biju and the demon that decimated Konoha the day I was born."

"What's a j-j-jinchuriki?" Neji asked as he coughed up more blood. Naruto only shook his head in disbelief.

"I know you didn't know the term after that little encounter at the ramen stand but seriously, I thought you'd ask your sensei or someone about it." The blond mused before shrugging. "Whatever. A jinchuriki is someone with a biju sealed inside of them. Being jinchuriki to the Kyuubi means that's the demon sealed in me. Gaara up there is jinchuriki to the Ichibi no Tanuki as well." He added with a small jerk of his head towards the waiting area for the competitors. Despite his pain though, Neji grinned at what he head.

"N-now I know y-you're l-lying. Yondaime-sama k-killed the K-Kyuubi." Naruto stared at him for a minuted before a massive wave of killing intent crashed down on him, its source being the blond himself.

"Oh, Kyuubi is not happy to hear that one bit. And honestly, neither am I. How can you be so uneducated about _ACADEMY_ knowledge?" Naruto asked as he kept the pressure up. "Seriously, fourth year academy students are taught about the biju and jinchuriki back in Iwa. Was Konoha so embarrassed at their fuck-up that they decided to ignore the fact they even exist just like I apparently was?" Naruto questioned before sending a glare up towards the Kage box again. But then an idea came to him and he grinned. "Tell ya what Hyuuga, I'll be generous and explain everything; everything about the biju, jinchuriki and even how it all ties together with me. So pay attention prick, it's story time."


	24. Arc 3 Chapter 11

**FoxFan88: **Where would Naruto have even learned the hand-sign to activate the seal? He only even knows it exists because Orochimaru gave them notes on all the Konoha ninja in the Finals. Sasuke will use the curse mark in the Invasion since he still has it and it's not sealed while I'll reveal what happened to Sai then as well.

****Lias of Shadow:**** Sorry if you find the chapters short, I try my best to make each one 6000 words at the lowest. As for how far I've planned ahead, I have an entire outline written in a notebook all the way to the finish. Arc Six is the start of the Shippuden years. That's not to say I have the entire

****roboguy45:**** Naruto will mention his Uzumaki blood but he won't go into great detail about it.

****Codename-ShadowFox:**** I won't be skipping 'story time' but I will be doing my best to make it original. Plus it won't say everything like the origins of the biju or stuff about the Rikkudo but will be a bare basics summary about the Kyubi and how it's connected to him.

****Tycat:**** It won't be. The Hirashin is a big thing so it will be limited, I'm still debating on whether or not Naruto will have it. I only put that in a couple chapters ago because that's honestly something I think they'd plan. I mean, if you suddenly got your hands on an ultimate weapon of some kind, you'd want as many of your troops capable of using it as possible right? Even if it turned out only a couple could, you'd still _try_ for as many as possible.

****reptoholic:**** I mentioned in Arc One that Naruto's biju power is regeneration. He can heal from any wound that isn't fatal at a very high speed. Only something like chopping off a limb would take a long time to heal as everything else would heal pretty quickly, even faster if he's actively channeling Kyubi's chakra through his system.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Shinku Akuma no Iwa: Arc Three: The Exams of Terror

****Chapter Eleven – ****Know Your Fear

"The biju are nine beings of pure living chakra. Nobody knows their origins except the beasts themselves and sadly, they aren't sharing." Naruto began as Neji glared at him from his spot on the ground, still bleeding and unable to move. "Shortly after the villages were formed one of your founders, Uchiha Madara, fought against the other, your Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama. Your own history lessons will tell you that Madara and Hashirama were equal in every way possible to the point that they were the biggest rivals history has ever known. History will also tell you that during the fight Madara summoned the Kyubi no Yoko somehow and used it against your Shodai." Naruto glanced around the stadium idly as he heard Kyubi growl in the back of his mind. Any mention of Madara pissed the great being off. "Now you tell me something; if Madara and Hashirama were equal in every way then how come Madara summoning a massive advantage in the Kyubi did not automatically give him the win? If they were equal then adding the Kyubi to Madara's side tips the scales heavily into his favor. You can't just say Hashirama overcame them both because that wouldn't make sense. One is equal to one but is still less than two. How exactly did Hashirama overcome his rival _and_ the strongest of the biju?" The blond asked, the red chakra cloak still out as the tail whipped around lightly like a real appendage.

"I d-don't know." Neji growled out, not liking what Naruto was saying but not having anything to argue against yet as he was only stating historical fact currently. "But he d-did." The Hyuuga added, as that was what their history books told them. Naruto only tilted his head to the side.

"Yes he did, after he got help of his own." The blond shared. "I don't know if your history books tell you this, I myself only learned it after Kyubi shared it with me personally, but Hashirama was helped by his wife Uzumaki Mito. Together they subdued Kyubi before Mito used a very powerful fuinjutsu to seal the biju inside herself, becoming the first jinchuriki in the village era. After that, Hashirama and Madara finished out their battle much like history tells us, that your Shodai fought hard and in the end returned home badly injured but victorious with his rival dead at the valley the battle created. Yadda, yadda, yadda." Naruto stated dismissively as he waved his hand around and rolled his eyes. "Fast forward a couple decades or so. The Sandaime is now Hokage and Uzumaki Mito is going to die from old age soon. Now there's a problem; if Mito dies then the Kyubi goes free and Konoha doesn't know exactly what it will do but since it is a demon they assume it will destroy the place that kept it locked up. So they need someone new to contain the beast before Mito passes on. Enter Uzumaki Kushina, my mother."

Here a few in the crowd gasped as they could guess what Naruto was about to say. Those that knew Kushina never knew she had been the Kyubi jinchuriki as it had been kept a secret of the highest level to protect her. All they knew was that she had come to Konoha as a child for reasons unknown.

"Mom had a special chakra that had a suppression effect on the biju for some reason. Knowing this, Konoha decided she would be the next Kyubi jinchuriki since her chakra would allow her to control the beast and use its power for the village. So before Mito passed on, Kyubi was taken out of her and resealed into my mother when she was just a young girl, not even a kunoichi yet." Naruto explained with a frown as he then shook his head and shrugged. "Jumping ahead again, the Third Shinobi War had just ended. Konoha and its allies are victorious, the rest are trying to recover their power and peace has just been reestablished. My mother had in secret married Namikaze Minato as the two had been in love ever since he saved her from some Kumo ninja before the war. The marriage was kept a secret because both of them had multiple powerful enemies and they didn't want to have the other targeted out of hate. Then comes what's quite possibly the best and worst news they could get; my mother was pregnant." The young jinchuriki held up his hands and raised and lowered them back and forth as if they were scales as he explained. "On one hand; yay, they'll be parents and all that other stuff a parent feels. On the other hand though; pregnancy is the worst thing possible for a female jinchuriki. You see, during the pregnancy, all the chakra that would normally keep the biju locked up instead begins to divert to feeding the growing life within them. The birth itself weakens the seal to the point that the biju could practically just walk out on their own. To prevent this though, you just need to have a seal master on hand to keep the seal strong while the woman gives birth to the kid." Naruto dropped his hands here and jabbed a thumb at himself. "And now nine months later on October tenth comes me."

"So y-you're saying the K-Kyubi attack was y-your fault?" Neji growled as Naruto shook his head.

"Not entirely. Mom was pregnant with me and her seal was weakening but dad was known as one of the best seal masters around. How could the seal have broken with him there?" Naruto asked before shrugging. "I don't really feel like sharing that part but you know what happened next. I'm born and Kyubi breaks free from mom before running wild on the village that held it captive for nearly a hundred years. Dad beats the biju back out of the village and with mom's help manages to hold it down long enough for him to give his life to beat it. But here's where your history apparently lies to you. You said that dad killed the Kyubi. But that's impossible, the biju can't die. As living beings of chakra, killing them just allows them to reform elsewhere after a few years. Seeing as there haven't been any reports of the Kyubi running wild in the past thirteen years, it couldn't have died. So how did dad beat the biju? The same way Mito did with Hashirama, he sealed it into a human. However the jutsu he used to seal it was going to kill him so he couldn't seal it into himself because once he died it would've been free and the battle would've started all over again. He couldn't re-seal it into mom since between giving birth to me and then having Kyubi break out of her, she was going to die too. That left only one option; the newborn me. My father sealed the Kyubi into me in order to both protect Konoha but to also give me access to the biju's power for my own protection." The blond waved a hand at the stadium as he frowned. "This entire village was saved because my father made me a jinchuriki. He gave his life to do it and mom followed him into the void right after. After all of that, your Sandaime stepped out of retirement and took over the village again. And what was his first act? To exile the reason the village still stood!" The teen shouted angrily. "When people learned what had happened they didn't see the human baby that saved their lives just by being there, they saw the demon inside and wanted to kill it! Your Hokage had me sent out of the village to protect me and apparently then hid the truth from everyone since nobody here knew I existed or the truth about Kyubi! I should have been hailed as a hero for keeping the demon locked up and instead these people called for my death! Some great village Konoha is!"

The crowd was silent as they took in what he said and the ones that were old enough to live through the attack were remembering that there had been quite a commotion against a baby shortly after the attack. While the details slipped most of their minds, they did remember that the baby was connected to the demon and they hadn't wanted it near them because of it. Down on the arena floor, Neji grit his teeth and began to struggle, only managing to turn himself from on his back to his side, propping himself somewhat up via a badly cut arm.

"I d-don't believe you." He said, getting Naruto's attention and making him scowl. "S-some of what you said s-sounds right. B-but other parts d-don't make sense."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's the truth." The blond growled before motioning to himself. "See this chakra? You don't need fancy eyes to tell it isn't human. This is the chakra of the Kyubi sealed inside of me. A jinchuriki is capable of using the chakra of the beast they contain. Right now I'm only using one tails' worth of chakra but I can use up to all nine with the right training. The fact I have this is proof to my story. And if you still don't believe me, then ask the Sandaime!" The blond shouted as he jabbed a hand towards the Kage booth. "Ask that old man about how he exiled a baby instead of taking control of his fucking village like a real leader!" He screamed, getting some of the crowd to looked towards their leader for answers.

Inside the booth though, Sarutobi was silent with his head bowed to hide his expression. Exactly what he had feared most had happened in that the truth was shared. He had noticed that once Naruto had drawn on his tenant, all the calls of liar had stopped. Most of the people remembered the feel of that chakra from thirteen years ago and hearing him share the truth had only confirmed what they had begun to think. This boy really was the son of their Yondaime. They really had condemned a baby. And now that baby had grown up and come back with hatred for his birthplace.

The crowd waited but Sarutobi made no move to stand and admit the truth, however in the end that was more telling than admitting it for one reason. It was his shame. Everyone could guess that if Naruto's words were true then his shame at his actions were holding him back from answering. And as the older generation thought back to the night of the attack and remembered bits about Naruto's story they came to the realization that it had to be true. They had hated the son of their hero, the only reason they still lived. And now he had returned.

And he was not happy.

"Iwa picked me up after I was exiled and took me in. They raised me to be a shinobi for the village and promised me that I would be able to accomplish whatever I wanted with the strength I would gain." Naruto admitted, drawing attention back to him as the chakra cloak of the Kyubi finally dissipated. "And what do I want?" Naruto asked as he walked over to Neji and forcefully shoved him up to his knees before pacing around him. The entire stadium's attention was on him now as he did so, the match long since over and everyone knew it despite the proctor having never called it. "What do I want?" The blond repeated as he kept circling Neji, the act unsettling to the Hyuuga. "I suppose I only want a few things really. Just a few small things in the end. Nothing major." Naruto finished as he held out his right arm and pushed chakra to the gauntlet, releasing the blade within. Neji actually flinched at the sound of the steel, Naruto's predator-like circling and history lesson having destroyed what was left of his nerves. Up above, the crowd itself was listening with baited breath.

"The most basic thing would be to live with the girl I love. Simple enough." Naruto started, throwing a grin up towards the waiting area for the genin where Hikari was smiling back down. "The second thing I want is to kill your Sandaime for what he did to me. One decrepit old mans' life... In the grand scheme of the world that's not very big either but of course, that one won't be happening anytime soon." He admitted, knowing he wasn't going to get that chance as the Invasion was going to take it away from him. In the Kage Booth, Onoki smiled while Sarutobi only let out a regretful sigh. "The last thing I want, that's the tricky one. Doable, especially with my heritage and skills, but tricky." Finally Naruto came to a stop in front of Neji. "I want to become the strongest shinobi alive. Greater than everyone the world has ever seen or ever will."

"A m-monster like you? Never." Neji spat out, a last hint of defiance. Naruto only chuckled and shook his head.

"Well... it's a good thing you won't be around to see it happen then isn't it?" Before anyone could react he was behind Neji with his blade held before him in a crouch. Standing straight Naruto flicked the blood off the blade and retracted it into the gauntlet. "Good-bye prick. I hope hell is to your liking." He said, just as the blade vanished into it's place. Everyone was silent for a moment before the screams began as Neji fell forward.

And his head fell off.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Wow, so brutal Naru-kun." Hikari muttered with a smirk as the crowd went crazy with their screams at the act. On the other side of the room Tenten was shaking, horrified at how he had just killed her teammate and friend for seemingly no reason beyond that he could. Neji was not a threat anymore, he hadn't since Naruto started talking about his origins. So why? Why did he kill him?

"Geez, overkill much?" Kankuro commented with a grimace as Temari nodded and Gaara smiled. While the older two of the Suna trio were shocked and slightly scared of Naruto's revealed skill, Gaara only felt better and better as the match went on. Though he had decided not to kill the blonde, he still wanted to see how strong he was and Naruto had not disappointed. The excessive force of using the Kyubi and then even decapitating the Hyuuga after he was beaten only excited Gaara more. In the back of his mind he could hear his mother screaming for blood and the red head only shook silently as he was eager for the invasion to begin so that he too could begin killing.

"That bastard..." Sasuke growled. While he couldn't care less about Neji, Sasuke was getting pissed at how the blonde seemed so strong and vicious. He had believed Itachi was the worst around as he killed his entire family in one night but Naruto was quickly rising to be just as bad. Unlike his brother, Naruto freely showed the glee he felt in crushing and killing his opponents and that was far more cruel than Itachi's emotionless demeanor. If Naruto were to actually do something against him personally he may have had to replace Itachi as his goal in life. It didn't help that the Iwa teen was his age and yet seemed leagues above his own skill level. Learning the full truth behind his heritage and jinchuriki status made sense and explained some of his power but that still angered the Uchiha. He was raised to know his family was the best and yet there were others that still stood far above him. It was looking more and more like Orochimaru's offer of power was going to be the only way for him to catch up.

Up above in the stands the crowds were crying out in outrage or disgust, but none more so than Hyuuga clan itself. Though of the Branch Family, Neji was well known among the clan and his skill was respected by most of them, even silently by the Main Family. Having him killed was a major blow to them, and having it done in such a public and humiliating manner only worsened it. The fact that he was killed by the boy that should have been a Konoha ninja and fellow comrade but was instead a bitter enemy and ninja of the villages greatest foe? Preposterous. But that was the truth and they could all see that it wasn't just the boy's own hate towards the village that drove him to kill their prodigy, but Neji's own defiant and superior attitude as well.

Sitting with her clan, Hinata had a hand over her mouth as she stared down at her cousin's headless body horrified by his death. She knew he hated her because of the seal and her role in his father's death. Despite being a victim in the entire ordeal, Neji blamed her for it and she let him. She had hoped that by taking his hate, he would one day move on and they could be a family again like they first were as children before the seal. Neji had never changed though, despite her best wishes and hopes otherwise. Even to this day she had a small hope for him but now it could never happen. He was dead, killed by Naruto. Turning her attention to the blond revealed that he was staring back up at the crowd with a smile.

Happy? He was happy that he killed Neji?

_'How could he? How... how could he?' _The heiress thought as the boy mockingly waved up to those above before walking off towards the fighters waiting area, quietly chuckling to himself. _'How could he? How could... how dare he?!'_ The thought changed as Hinata stared at his head as he left. _'How dare he kill Neji! Neji-nii-san was supposed to... was going to...'_ Her thoughts faltered as she turned to what she had hoped for her older cousin. She had hoped he would get over his father's death so that they could work together to fix her clan. She had hoped he would get to see the one day united family she dreamed of.

All gone now.

_'He... he'll... he'll pay... he'll pay for this!'_ Hinata thought as her disgust turned to rage, her face twisting darkly as Naruto vanished into the stairwell. It was the first time she had ever felt such a hatred as she was a peaceful and gentle girl. But for the blond from Iwa? The Hyuuga heiresses thoughts were now focused in only one direction.

Vengeance.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Sarutobi was silent as he watched Naruto head back. Death was a natural part of the Exams and to be expected. Usually not in the Third Phase, but possible and accepted. He and every Kage had known this and expected the possibility as well as knowing that by the waivers signed before the Second Phase, no reparations or retaliations were allowed or possible. It was a natural outcome when two ninja faced off that one would likely die.

That match however, was the closest to a one-man massacre Sarutobi could think of.

Naruto had from the very beginning showed himself the more skilled warrior. He engaged a Hyuuga in their master art of taijutsu and not only held his own but crushed the Konoha genin with his own skill. Neji had only gotten one clean hit in and that was from using his clan's famed Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation) to shove back Naruto's charge. But then when he tried to use the Hyuuga's ultimate taijutsu skill, the blond had blocked it in its entirety and even used it as the perfect opening to continue attacking. Using the Kyubi's chakra was simply overkill at its worst. And then even though the teen was defeated, Naruto went on to both reveal his shameful decisions as a reinstated Kage to the world before killing the defenseless Hyuuga. It wasn't a fight but a slaughter.

However that was not why Sarutobi was silent. Nor was it because Konoha's shamed past had been brought to light. The Hokage knew there would be a major fallout from his decisions once the day was done. He could practically feel it in his bones. For such a kind and caring village, to do such a thing to their own hero would break their image of being the most noble of the great five. It would tell the rest of the world that they weren't better people like they portrayed, just better at hiding their flaws. That would drop their mission intake as some people wouldn't want to hire a village that would condemn children for things beyond their control. Then would come the issues with their Daimyo as the man would confront him over his poor handling of the situation all those years ago and possibly cut their funding as punishment, funding the village would need if the mission intake dropped like he expected. But his silence was not due to shame or disgust or thoughts on future issues at the moment. His silence was due to one thing.

Onoki's laughter.

Since the blond had begun pulling on Kyubi's chakra, the diminutive Kage had started laughing. He quieted down when Naruto shared his story, but when the genin cut off his opponents' head the man had begun again. Loud and obnoxious, clearly mocking Sarutobi for the past and for the present; it was insufferable. But the Hokage endured it in silence knowing there was nothing he could say to make the man stop. It had all come about exactly as Onoki had said.

"_Just wait, Naruto has another match and if I know _my_ genin, he'll make sure they learn of it by the time he finishes."_

And learn it they had. He could already see the truth being accepted by the crowd, despite his best wishes or the horror and outrage felt at Naruto's actions against Neji. The world now knew that Namikaze Minato had a son. It knew that son was banished from his own home. And it knew that son hated the village he was born to.

"Tsuchikage-dono, would you mind please? I'm starting to develop a headache." The Kazekage asked as the oldest Kage there calmed himself down, much to Sarutobi's silent thanks.

"Apologies Kazekage-dono, I just couldn't help it. I knew Naruto would be flashy when he revealed everything and I was right. That boy may be unpredictable most of the time but there are instances where his plans are as plain as day." The man commented as his grin didn't let up. "And naming himself the Shinku Akuma (Crimson Devil)... Knowing the boy as I do I'll admit it fits him. Both for his personality and because of the Kyubi's chakra he pulled on. I like it. When he's inevitably put into the Bingo Books, I hope they'll call him that." Onoki said as he glanced at Sarutobi out of the corner of his eye.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Naruto had a large grin on his face as he reentered the waiting area where he was instantly pulled into a kiss from Hikari. While the older of the Suna pair rolled their eyes at the display, Gaara watching the medics take away Neji's corpse, the Konoha ninja there had different responses. Sasuke only glared at the pair, growling under his breath while his hands were balled into fists, shaking at his sides. Tenten though was staring at Naruto in horror. He had just killed her teammate in such a brutal manner and now he was just kissing his girlfriend as if nothing was wrong? How screwed up was he? Breaking the kiss Naruto only raised a brow as Hikari giggled lightly. "That was so hot."

"You get turned on by the weirdest things." Naruto muttered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder as the two walked over to the Suna trio. Down below Genma called for the last two competitors and Tenten practically ran out of the room, desperate to get away from Naruto while Sasuke sent one last glare at the blond before stomping off himself. The five waited a couple moments after he left to make sure they were alone before all five turned serious. "If I remember right, the Uchiha's match is the beginning right?" Naruto asked while both girls nodded. "What're you three doing in the plan?"

"We're guarding Gaara as he until he can unleash his full power and then just running support for the jonin above." Temari answered while gesturing to Kankuro. The Iwa pair nodded as Gaara only looked over to the arena walls, picturing the village just beyond them.

"I was given no orders beyond kill anyone from Konoha I wish and I intend to do just that." He stated so Naruto smirked.

"Same here. I'm just gonna go wild with Kyubi while Hikari-chan will rush up and stick close to sensei. They'll likely swing by the medic ward and stuff Kurai in a special holding scroll made for when he's too out of it to help before doing whatever sensei is supposed to do."

"You mean you can transform into your biju too?" Kankuro asked as he suppressed a shiver, the idea of seeing two of the giant chakra demons was not a pretty thought. Naruto and Hikari on the other hand found themselves shocked and clearly showing it as they stared at Gaara.

"You can do a full-transformation? Damn, I can barely handle over three tails right now!" The blond complained while Hikari was silently thankful she had been told to forfeit even more now as she could not face a biju on her own yet. In fact she was pretty sure none of her family could since their skills wouldn't work on the great demons. Hearing Naruto's admission had both Temari and Kankuro let out a sigh of relief while Gaara turned to the blond with the barest hint of a smirk.

"Then it seems I will be the superior fighter in the battle." He commented as Naruto growled.

"Fuck that! I'll kill 'em all before your giant ass can even find them." He taunted while Gaara frowned. The other three, even Hikari, all took a step back as Gaara and Naruto stepped up face to face with each other.

"You will not take my kills Namikaze."

"And I'm not about to let you take any of mine either." He replied as the two stared each other down. Kankuro and Temari were starting to get scared that the two would face off here instead of sticking to the plan while Hikari shook her head in annoyance.

"Look, why don't the two of you just stick to different halves of the village? That way you won't get in the others' way and piss each other off?" She suggested, hoping to break the tension and stop her boyfriend from ruining everything before it began. She knew how competitive he was and how much Konoha had pissed him off during his matches. His earlier reluctance that had sprouted after his talk with Jiraiya had vanished due to his anger, much to her silent relief since she did not want him to be in danger from not going all out when the time came. Both jinchuriki looked to her before Naruto relaxed and nodded.

"That'll work. I'll take the north half. That alright with you brother?" The Kyubi container asked as Gaara considered it before nodding his agreement. While he wanted all the kills for himself, he wasn't going to deprive his brother of his own entertainment so long as he kept out of his way. "Alright then. Now we just have to wait for the signal."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Down on the arena floor both genin waited as Genma got ready to begin the next match. Tenten had done her best to focus on Sasuke so that she could fight but it was clear that Neji's death was still in her thoughts by how tense she looked. Sasuke on the other hand was scowling as he stared at the girl. He had nothing against her, but she was going to go down fast and hard. It was just her bad luck to be in the way of him fighting the Namikaze and winning the Exams. "Alright, are both of you ready?" Genma asked as the crowd finally started to quiet down from the fuss of Naruto's match. It was not forgotten, merely put aside to deal with after the tournament. Sasuke instantly nodded to answer the jonin while Tenten took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and focusing on the younger Uchiha and nodding herself. "Alright then. Last match of the semi-finals; Tenten vs Uchiha Sasuke, both of Konoha. Hajime!" He cried as both genin leapt back to put some distance between them.

Despite her reluctance due to Neji's murder, Tenten was the first to attack by reaching into her weapon pouch with both hands and pulling out a handful of shuriken. Moving a few to her other hand so that both held some, the bun haired girl instantly started throwing them at the Uchiha, alternating their angles and speed to keep him off balance. To his credit, Sasuke hadn't stood still. The second she had reached for the weapons he had pulled out a kunai and started running towards her at a slight angle. When the metal stars came flying he began using his kunai to deflect them, his activated Sharingan eyes allowing him to track and predict all of them with ease.

"Tch... damn eyes." The girl muttered as she noticed how his eyes had turned red instead of their normal black showing the usage of his bloodline. With them active he would be able to copy any jutsu she used as well as predict her moves through her movements and even cast high level genjutsu through simple eye-contact. Very overpowered in her opinion. Tenten pulled out a couple kunai of her own as he came near and rushed forward herself to face him head on. While ranged combat was her preference, she was still taught by the best taijutsu user in Konoha and knew how to handle herself up close when the situation called for it. Tenten jumped in with a slash from the right that Sasuke blocked with his kunai before flipping over the left she tried to cut him with from behind. As soon as he landed he spun into a low kick to her legs that the girl hopped up to dodge but the Uchiha wasn't done. He continued his spin into a high kick that Tenten crossed her arms to block. Getting tossed back a couple feet the boy ran through a small set of hand-signs he had memorized.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" He called as he raised his fingers to his mouth and blew out a large red ball of flame at the girl. Tenten cursed as she leapt away but Sasuke merely held the jutsu and followed her, making the ball into a stream that chased her across the field. Growling to herself the girl reached into her pouch again and pulled out three black balls. With a quick toss the smoke bombs exploded between the two, cutting off Sasuke's view of her and allowing her to hide and make a plan.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Such a promising battle." The Kazekage mused as Sarutobi and Onoki both nodded. It wasn't as major as the previous fights but it showed promise for both of its competitors. Onoki happened to glance at the Kazekage for a moment and noticed him nod, making him grin. "Such a shame we won't see it completed."

Before Sarutobi could ask what he meant, Onoki snapped his fingers. Instantly Akatsuchi and Deidara pounced, attacking the jonin guarding the Hokage while the Kazekage's own shinobi attacked the other. Sarutobi himself dashed to his feet and attempted to get out of their viewing booth only to find a wall of stone rise up, blocking him. Stepping away from the dead Konoha ninja, the visiting jonin took their places in front of their respective leaders as Onoki hovered a couple feet off the ground while the Kazekage was pulling on his face. It was revealed why a moment later as the face was torn off, revealing pale white skin underneath and golden eyes. "Orochimaru!"

"Surprised sensei? But I thought you'd be happy? I went to all the trouble of setting up the perfect reunion. All for you." The snake sannin taunted with Onoki laughing. "I even invited a couple friends to the party."

"Oh Sarutobi... you have no idea how long Iwa has waited for this." The diminutive Kage said as Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, hoping to figure out a way to get help and survive.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

In the stands the crowd was mostly too busy to pay any attention to the Kage Booth so none noticed the wall that suddenly rose to block it off from the outside. However soon they all began to notice feathers falling from the ceiling. The more experienced ninja knew exactly what they meant and pulsed their chakra to avoid getting caught in the genjutsu while the rest fell asleep without warning. The jonin looked around in confusion before the visitors from Suna and a few others stood up and revealed they were shinobi from Oto as well. Without a word the foreign ninja attack, making the Konoha warriors fight to defend their people and themselves.

On the arena floor, Tenten and Sasuke froze when they began to hear the sounds of battle from above and were even more confused when Genma jumped between them. "What's going on?" Tenten asked, but before he could answer the three jumped away from a wind blast that struck right where the jonin had been. Landing down from the competitors waiting area, Naruto grinned and heard Gaara, Kankuro and Temari drop down behind him. Hikari had instead run up the wall to meet up with Kurotsuchi in the stands before joining the battle. "What are you doing?!" Tenten demanded as the blond simply waved his hands towards the arena walls and the crowds above them.

"What we came here to do! Destroy Konoha!" The blond declared with a laugh as Gaara made a hand-sign and was suddenly cocooned in his sand. Temari and Kankuro spread out to defend him until he would soon emerge in his full-transformation while Naruto decided he'd stay and help before rushing off to do his own damage. "So who's first?" The boy asked as his eyes turned red and both blades came out of his gauntlets, the blond shifting into his stance as Genma, Tenten and Sasuke got ready across from him.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**Authors' Note: **And so begins the Invasion! Since I only plan on devoting two to four chapters to it, I won't put it as a separate arc but instead include it as the finally to Arc Three. Next chapter will be up when I can get to it but I'll probably update one of my other stories before I do so you'll have to wait for it. Anyways, please favorite and review!

****PS: ****I put up a poll on my profile for which story I should start next since I've got a few ideas. I plan on closing that poll on September 1rst so make sure to vote soon!


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